The heir to the Hayato-clan: Book II
by dani99597
Summary: This is a sequel. The bloodline wars of Kirigakure no Sato is over and Yamada leaves with his summon to train in the summoning world. He then returns two years later and is ready for everything the world can throw at him. Can he accomplish his dreams before his secret is revealed? Can Tenten find him before it's too late?
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

**AN:** Alright people, I am back from my short vacation! Did you miss me? No? No one? Hmm… oh well, hope you enjoy the prologue of the second installment of The Heir to the Hayato clan. This can be looked at as my version of Shippuden in case you where wondering.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The smell of smoke and blood coated the air of Kirigakure no Sato as the screams of agony from the dying shinobi echoed through the streets. The fire from some of the buildings could be seen from miles away from the village itself.

People where rushing out into the streets to either join the rebels to fight for their freedom, to fight for the fourth Mizukage and his iron rule or to escape the fight that was taking place.

A figure wearing almost a completely black outfit stood atop a building taking in the view, his blue-gray concealed eyes scanning the whole area for any major threats

He was dressed in a completely black poncho which almost completely covered up his dark blue kiri jonin vest. He wore black shinobi pants which were taped around the ankles and dark blue shinobi sandals.

He also wore a blue facemask which was attached to the jonin west and the rest of his face was covered by the hood he had over his head. There was drawn an invisible seal on the hood which made the part of his face where his eyes would be seem like a dark and bottomless void.

Only when he activated his dōjutsu would his eyes show through the darkness. At his back were two weapons strapped, one a sword with a black blade and the other one a normal katana.

As his eyes scanned over the village, he couldn't help but to feel sorry for the civilians that would probably lose their lives. They didn't want anything to do with this fight and yet they were dragged into it. However if everything went as planned then everything would hopefully end well.

His eyes then locked at one special building. It was the tallest building in the village and had the kanji for water hanging proudly from the front.

With one step forward he jumped down from the building and into the street. He landed without making a sound, not that it would have been heard, and started on his walk towards the Mizukage tower.

After a while he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face three kiri jonin probably still loyal to the Mizukage. He had sensed them coming and already knew why they approached him.

"Give up or we'll kill you. On second thought, give up so we can kill you easily." The one at the front said boldly. The masked shinobi looked down at the ground and gave a slight chuckle while he formed one handseal under his poncho, unknown to the three.

A tree root shot out of the ground and slammed the kiri-nin into the building on his left. If they listened closely, they could hear his bones being crushed by the sheer force behind the attack.

The other two stared in shock at the ninja in front of them who now lifted his head to reveal a pair of Mangekyō sharingan. "No way, it's the Genso Masutaa…" One of them said in fear.

"Is that what you call me now? The elemental master, eh?" The masked shinobi asked while he tilted his head to the left and placed a hand on his chin. If they could see his face, they would see a huge grin on his face.

"I like it." He commented before he pulled down his face mask and sped through a few handseals. "Yoton: youganno kawa!" He shouted before he spewed out a river of lava which filled the entire broad side of the street.

The two shinobi did not react quickly enough and was engulfed by the lava and died a pretty horrible, but quick death. Just as he pulled up his mask, he heard a scream. He looked towards the source and cursed himself when he saw a civilian woman running from the lava he released.

With a burst of speed, he ran up the side of a building towards the woman. He jumped down at her side, scooped her up and ran off, barley making it before the lava reached them.

Further ahead he saw more civilians running down the streets and cursed his luck. He stopped, set the woman down and told her to run. He then turned towards the lava with determination.

He was at a part of the street where it split into three and to avoid more civilian causalities, he had to stop it here. "Doton: Doryūheki!" He shouted after doing three handseals and slammed the palms of his hands into the ground.

Three earth walls rose as high as the buildings around them, blocking of every escape route of the lava. The river of lava clashed with the sturdy walls and for a moment it seemed like the walls would give in.

'_Hold, dam it.' _The masked shinobi thought while sweating from the heat of the lava. Luckily the walls seemed to hold if just barley and the shinobi could breathe out a sigh of relief.

He jumped atop one of the walls before going through another couple of sets of handseals. "Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu!" He shouted and a waterfall clashed down at the boiling lava.

The lava eventually cooled down and turned solid and the water evaporated. "I need to be more careful with that jutsu from now on…" He mumbled to himself before he jumped down from the wall.

Just as he landed he felt cold metal against his neck. "Don't move rebel scum." Came a man's voice from behind him. He walked around the masked shinobi, still holding the kunai against his throat, with a sick smile.

"I will be legendary for this. The man who killed the unbeatable Genso Masutaa." The man said with a boisterous voice. His grin threatened to split his face as he pressed the kunai into the shinobi's throat.

"Rasengan!" Was shouted and echoed throughout the street. Before the enemy shinobi had the time to react, his face twisted in pain as a swirling orb of chakra was slammed into his side, sending him flying into a neighboring building.

The boy who used the powerful technique was dressed in a black, short sleeved haori with black flames on the bottom, which was halfway covering a dark orange kiri jonin vest, the kanji for fox displayed on the back.

He also had a face mask, which was orange, but didn't wear a hood and let his golden colored hair flow freely in the wind. He had a slashed kiri hitai ate tied around his forehead and had black shinobi pants with dark orange stripes.

"I could have handled that you know, Naruto." The masked shinobi said as he stepped out of a nearby alleyway, his hand sparking from charging up the Chidori while the one in the street disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The blond turned around and smirked under his mask. "I know, but I can't let you have all the glory, Yamada." He joked. Yamada pulled down his hood stepped forward and looked at the building the man was slammed into.

If Yamada was told to pick one thing about himself that changed the most, he would say his hair. It was now shoulder length and framed his face almost perfectly.

It had changed in color as well as it was now a weak red tint in it. When he received Terumī Mei's two bloodline limits, he seemed to adapt her hair color somewhat as well.

"A little too much power behind that one if you ask me." He said with a hand on his chin. The blonde scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well you know my chakra control sucks." Naruto defended himself. "That excuse is getting old Naruto. We have been practicing your control for the whole year." Yamada countered.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Naruto mumbled with a small pout. Yamada let out a small laugh before he pulled on his hood again and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Come on, we have a Mizukage to… take care off. We are late enough as it is." Naruto nodded, now being serious again, and the two took off towards the Mizukage tower.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"It seems the rebellion comes knocking on your door, Mizukage-sama." Mei Terumī said as she stepped into the Mizukage's office, followed closely by Yamada, Naruto, Haku and Chōjūrō.

"So it seems." Yagura said from his position in front of the large window in the office. He turned around to look at the intruders with a restrained look. The first thought that ran through Yamada's mind was that he was very short for being a kage.

Yagura had messy, light-grey hair, pink pupilless eyes and what seemed to be a stitch-like scar running from under his left eye, all the way down his cheek. He wore short-sleeved mesh armor which he also wore a green poncho along with a turquoise sash around his waist, paired with a green apron over his pants. He wore a pair of brown boots, and on his back he carried a staff-like pole weapon with uneven sized hooks with a green flower on the larger end.

"Where is Ao, I would expect him to be here." The Mizukage said as he looked at the five inhabiting his office. "He is out in the streets to make sure everything goes as planned." The red head answered, never letting her guard down.

"I see… I must admit, I thought I had you one year ago. However it seems I was mistaken." The pink eyed kage said while eyeing his opponents' wearily.

"So did we, but it seems luck turned in our favor. Now will you give yourself over or must we do this the hard way." The red head responded while taking her stance.

Yagura closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, like he was thinking over the offer. He opened his eyes again with a small hint of a smile.

"I am afraid I have to protect my village. It is a kage's duty after all. However, I am also fighting to keep my own life it seems." He said before a dark and ominous chakra started engulfing him. Naruto's eyes widened in shock and recognition.

"That's the chakra cloak! Only a Jinchuuriki can do that!" he shouted while pointing an accusing finger. Before any of them had the chance to react further, they were blasted with a powerful torrent of water through the wall and into the streets below the tower.

They shakily got back to their feet only to see Yagura standing before them in his three-tailed state. "How many tails could you control again?" Yamada asked Naruto with a hopeful look.

"I can barely control one tail!" Naruto shouted back. Yamada sighed and went through a few handseals. "Mokuton: Mokuryū no Jutsu!" He shouted and no sooner did a wooden dragon shoot out of the ground.

The dragon rose towards the Jinchuuriki before biting down hard at him. "I am going to try to take his chakra away from him." Yamada explained while focusing his hardest.

He had found out about the technique he was using when he heard of how Hashirama Senju defeated the nine-tails and Uchiha Madara. He had tried his best recreate it from that day.

Yamada could feel the chakra slowly draining from the Jinchuuriki in front of him and allowed a small smile to slip onto his lips. However, he let his focus waver and that gave Yagura enough time to break from the dragon and jump away.

Even though he only had two tails worth of chakra left, he was still an very powerful opponent. "Looks like we have to do the rest the hard way! Taju kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted and charged in.

"Naruto wait!" Mei shouted, but was stopped by Yamada. "Don't waste your voice Mei-san. When he charges in like that nothing will stop him. We will just have to improvise a little." Yamada said before he charged after his friend.

Naruto's clones charged in and attacked Yagura head on. Yagura easily swatted them of, but did not suspect the Rasengan which was aimed at his chest.

His barley managed to dodge it before he had to dodge the Raikiri which came from the opposite direction a few minutes later. He was left constantly on the defensive because the next he had to dodge was a wave of lava from Mei which was followed up by Chōjūrō's sword which finally hit and sent the Jinchuuriki flying.

He crashed into a building, but quickly got to his feet again. "Now that we have calmed Naruto's excitement, can we proceed with the plan?" Yamada asked while he sent a glare at Naruto from the corner of his eye.

"How would I know that you guys made a plan?" Naruto asked. "Because you were there when we planned it." Yamada deadpanned. Yagura had removed himself from the building and was looking at the argument with a hint of amusement.

Yagura's two remaining tails slammed into Naruto and Mei before any of them could react and they were shot backwards. They skidded across the ground before they stopped and got back to their legs.

"Such power…" Mei gasped as she tried to catch her breath. The tails once again assaulted, but this time Yamada was ready. He jumped in front of the two others and went through a few handseals.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" he shouted and slammed his hands into the ground. The earth wall stood tall and mighty. The kage's tails did not manage to break through the wall and he roared in anger.

Yamada made the wall sink into the ground again before they charged again. They attacked with a flurry of kicks and punches from all three, but none of them seemed to face the Jinchuuriki at all.

Naruto tried one last time to punch the Jinchuuriki, but Yagura sidestepped and punched him hard in the back. Coral suddenly started growing on Naruto's back which of course made him panic.

The coral spread quickly and in a desperate attempt to get it away, Yamada fired a fireball dangerously close to Naruto. It, however, did the trick as the coral was burnt off of him.

"Watch where you fire that thing!" Naruto shouted as he tried to stop the fire from ruining his clothing. "Just be happy I saved your ass." Yamada shouted back before he was hit by one of the tails.

Yagura scowled and was about to attack, but was intercepted by Chōjūrō's hammer… sword… thing. He slammed right into it and he was sent flying.

Yamada did one more handseal and targeted the descending Mizukage. A spike of wood shot out of the ground and hit Yagura in the gutter. However, it did not go through the Jinchuuriki and instead sent him into a nearby building.

Yagura was now forced to retract his version two form and was standing before his enemies with a glare. "You managed to get me out of my tailed beast form. That is a good accomplishment indeed; however I am done playing with you."

Naruto of course took that as an offense and decided to charge with the Rasengan again despite the warnings his friends gave him. Yagura got into a stance and stretched out his arm.

Water gathered in his palm until it formed a disk before it froze into a complete mirror. "Suiton: Mizukagami no Jutsu!" shouted Yagura and another Naruto jumped out of the mirror with a Rasengan.

The two techniques collided and a huge explosion erupted. Naruto was flung backwards and skidded across the ground. He stopped right in front of Yamada who was looking at him with an annoyed look.

"That's it; you are waiting on the sidelines from now on." Mei said while still keeping an eye on Yagura. "No! I am staying." Naruto said stubbornly.

"You have already screwed up two times, Naruto. We can't afford another screw up." Mei protested while trying to keep her anger under control.

When Naruto still didn't want to move, Yamada walked behind him and chopped him in the neck knocking him out. Yagura raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to comment on it.

"Can we go through with the plan now?" Yamada almost whined. Mei nodded and the four that was still conscious charged in.

Yamada pulled out his katana and made a slash at Yagura. The Mizukage stopped it with his staff and was locked in a power struggle with Yamada. That was when Haku came in and sped through handseals.

Water rose into the air around her and formed extremely sharp spears of ice. "Sensatsu Suishō!" She shouted and the spears were sent flying towards Yagura.

Yagura grunted and jumped into the air to avoid the spears. What he hadn't counted on was what happened next.

Mei had been going through handseals the whole time and finally reached their end. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" She shouted and the water dragon sped towards Yagura.

Since the kage was still in the air he was vulnerable to the attack and the dragon hit straight on. He was blasted backwards where Chōjūrō was waiting with his sword prepared.

The sword transformed and was swung against the kage with a hundred percent accuracy. The Mizukage and the sword hit each other with full force and Yagura was sent in the opposite direction at twice the speed, across the open ground and straight into a building.

The group assembled again while still being on guard, however some of them where breathing heavily. They did not believe it for one second that they had beaten the Mizukage that easily.

And they were right as well. The Mizukage reappeared from the building, standing on shaking legs but standing none the less.

"That was… and exemplary… performance… it will however… take more to beat… me…" Yagura said between gasps for air. He failed to notice the smirks which were on his enemies' faces.

He started his approach towards them slowly. He gained more and more speed as he walked until he was in a full out sprint.

What he didn't expect, however, was what landed in front of him. "Rasengan!" Naruto was shouted and thrust the orb into Yagura's gutter and he once again collided with the building.

This time they were expecting him to not get off the ground. As they approached the rubble of a building they saw some motion. Yagura came crawling out from under a piece of the wall; he didn't look good at all.

"H-how… did y-you… do that? I saw you… being knocked out." Yagura stammered out. "What you saw getting knocked out was not Naruto, but a solid bunshin. He made it and substituted with it under the explosion of the two Rasengan meeting." Yamada explained to the fallen kage.

Yagura's eyes widened for a second before he nodded in understanding. "Well, I congratulate you on defeating me." He said with sincerity. Yamada nodded and pulled out a scroll he had carried with him the whole day.

It was a special designed sealing scroll which was designed for one important purpose.

"Are you sure that scroll will be able to hold the three-tails?" Mei asked with skepticism. Yamada looked eyes with the red head.

"This scroll was made from the instructions that were used by the founder of my clan to seal extremely powerful beings. It will work just as well, if not better than sealing it into a person." He reassured.

The teaching on how to make the scroll came from the chamber he got his new sword from. They were very specific and had a lot of internal locks and twists. If this couldn't hold a tailed beast, then nothing could.

Yamada had even added his own twists to the seal. Sure, he was no sealing master, but he knew a few tricks.

He rolled out the scroll and laid it on the ground before putting his hands in a handseal to focus on his chakra. "What will happen to him?" Naruto asked as he looked in pity at his fellow Jinchuuriki.

Yamada took a second to think over his words before he answered. "He will die. His body won't be able to take the transaction in its current state." He said somewhat hesitantly.

He knew how Naruto felt about killing, especially his fellow Jinchuuriki. "You should read his mind first as well. Just to get any information he might have." Haku suggested softly and Mei nodded in agreement.

"No, we could let him live and keep him prisoner." Naruto tried to reason, but was quickly shut down by the others.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but he is too dangerous to keep alive. Look what he did to kiri. He made it into a bloodbath for all bloodline users. Innocent people died because of him." Mei said in an apologizing tone.

Naruto said nothing and instead walked away. He didn't want to be nearby when it happened.

Yamada sighed before he went back to concentrating. "O juu tensou." He whispered as he placed one hand on the Mizukage and the other on the seal in the scroll.

He could feel the powerful chakra enter his body from his left arm. It was a pain to contain and he had to grit his teeth for not to scream in pain. However, the chakra disappeared through his right arm and into the scroll, reliving him of the pain.

As soon as he removed his hand from the scroll did it roll up and seal shut by itself. Yamada himself collapsed besides the body of Yagura who was now dead.

The others rushed over to them and checked on both of them. "Yagura is dead." Chōjūrō confirmed and Mei turned to Yamada. "What did you get out of his mind?" She asked.

"You could give him a little space you know. He just did and s-ranked sealing jutsu." Haku said with a hint of protectiveness. "It's ok Haku." Yamada said as he forced himself into a sitting position.

"So what did you find out?" Mei asked again which earned her a small glare from Haku. "Nothing really, his mind was blank, like he had been brainwashed or something. The only memory I found was of this fight." Yamada admitted with a hint of confusion in his voice.

Mei scratched her chin, deep in thought while Haku supported Yamada so that he could get into a standing position. "Well whatever the problem was it will have to wait. We have to finish the takeover of kiri." Mei said.

"You rest; you have done your part. I will have the medical squad find you at this position. The rest of you, follow me." Mei said. Yamada was slightly disappointed in the fact that he was ordered to rest, but didn't voice his opinion.

Mei picked up the scroll with the three-tails in and stuffed it in her bra. She got strange looks from everyone except Haku. "What? It's the best containment for it. It's not like someone will look for it there." She defended with a shrug before she ran off, the three others close behind.

Yamada sat down on the ground with a deep sigh and closed his eyes for meditation. He opened them again when he felt a presence behind him.

He turned around with the katana pulled, ready to kill. What faced him was a man with an orange swirly mask with one eye in the mask. He wore a black robe with red clouds on which Yamada recognized fast and he had raven black hair.

"You're from the akatsuki. If you're here for the tailed beasts then you will have to go through me." He stated with confidence although he was at half capacity right now.

The man with the mask chuckled darkly which only made Yamada even more uneasy. "I am not after your tailed beasts yet, Yamada-kun. I am actually quite interested in you." The man spoke in a dark voice.

"And why, may I ask, do I interest you?" Yamada asked, still on guard. "There is no need to be on guard around me boy. I am not here to hurt you." The masked man said avoiding the question.

"Then why are you here?" Yamada asked. "I am here with a deal." Yamada shook his head at the man. "I already informed Itachi from your group, the answer is no." Yamada stated firmly.

"Boy, you haven't heard my personal deal." The man said with a chuckle. Yamada raised an eyebrow as the man had now caught his attention.

"Alright, speak then." Yamada said. "It's simple really, become my apprentice and I will give you power beyond your dreams." The man said with a smirk behind his mask.

"I have no need for power." Yamada stated and sheathed his katana and started to walk away from the man. "Not even to kill Orochimaru?" The masked man asked which made Yamada stop again.

"Yes, I can give you the power to kill the man that murdered your clan." The orange masked man continued to which Yamada clenched his fists.

One of the goals he had set himself was to kill Orochimaru or at least capture him and imprison him. However, if he was strong enough was a different question.

"I can see you are conflicted so I will give you some time to think it over. I will seek you out after your training with your summon." The masked man said and turned around to walk away.

"How do you know that?" Yamada asked as the strangers words sunk in. The masked man chuckled as the air seemed to spiral around him.

"I know more about you than you think, Yamada-kun." And with that the man disappeared in the spiral.

Yamada stared at the place where the man stood for a long time before he turned away to face the medical unit that had arrived. "We were told to find you here sir." One of the medics said.

Yamada nodded and looked one last time at where the stranger had disappeared before he walked off with the medics.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two weeks later_

Tenten walked through the streets of Konoha after another exhausting day's work at the hospital. She had started working there very recently and she had to admit she was enjoying it.

Tsunade had told her it would help on her medical training. She was right, of course. Tenten had learned a lot at the hospital in the three weeks she had worked there and the blonde Hokage was actually impressed by the bun haired girl's progress.

As she walked through the streets, she came upon a small dango shop at the side of the road. Since she was hungry after all the work, she decided to go in and take a bite.

She sat down at her table and ordered her dango. While she waited she overheard some fellow ninja talking at the table besides hers.

"Have you heard? The rebellion in kiri has ended! The rebels took Kirigakure two weeks ago." One of them said in an almost hushed voice. "I heard the Genso Masutaa won the battle all by himself." Another one said.

"I don't believe you! There is no way one man can take on a whole ninja force." The third one almost shouted. The first one took a sip of his sake before he spoke.

"Whoever he is, he is a force to be reckoned with. I heard a rumor that says he possesses multiple bloodlines." That is when Tenten's interest piqued. She leaned closer in hope of hearing more details about this mysterious person.

"That can't be true!" The third one shouted but was silenced by the second one. "It is true. There have even been reports about it. Some says he has the same bloodline as Mei Terumī, the leader of the rebellion. Others, however, says he has… the sharingan."

That was all that Tenten needed. She grabbed the dango when it was delivered, paid the waiter and left the dango shop. She finally might have a lead on Yamada.

The fact that she never stopped looking was absolute. Ever after she gave birth had she been searching for clues while on missions or listening in on rumors, visiting bars and even looked on the black market for any clues.

She burst into her sensei's office which startled the older woman out of her nap. Tsunade swung her fist into the empty air as a reflex, but when she noticed no one was there she looked around.

Her eyes landed on her student and she calmed down. "What is it Tenten, I was busy." The kage said as she picked up the paperwork she had rested her head on.

"Busy in dreamland?" Tenten asked with a smirk. Tsunade narrowed her eyes on the girls which made her chuckle nervously.

"Anyways, I think I have a lead on Yamada-kun." Tenten said with excitement. The Hokage raised her head from the paperwork.

"Is it the boy who helped the rebels against kiri?" The blond asked which shocked Tenten. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I have had my suspicion about it for a long time now. I have already asked the new Mizukage for a meeting about a possible treaty. I will ask her about it then." Tsunade said as she returned to her paperwork.

"Oh ok then, I guess I will go back home then." Tenten said as she turned to leave. "Please do, I need my assistant back. All of this paperwork is a pain." The kage replied which earned her a chuckle from her student.

After giving birth Tenten had moved in permanently in the Hokage mansion. Since her father died she didn't want to live in her old house anymore since she had so many memories of him.

Yamada's old apartment was available for her to move into, but she didn't want to live there either and she couldn't afford the furniture. So Tsunade had offered her to move into the Hokage mansion permanently which she happily accepted.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Shizune, I'm home!" Tenten shouted as she kicked of her sandals and walked in. the black haired woman appeared in the opening to the kitchen with a three months old baby in her arms.

Tenten stretched out her arms and grabbed hold of the baby before lifting it into the air making her giggle. "How is my little girl?" Tenten asked with a singing voice as she cuddled her baby girl.

"She is alright, although way too hyper." Shizune said with a smile. She had wanted what the girl in front of her had in a long time; however she never found the time to it since she always watched out for the Hokage and now her goddaughter.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sensei said she needed help at the office." Tenten told the black haired woman. Shizune sighed before she nodded and walked towards the door.

"You should really take a vacation you know. You really look like you need it." Tenten called over her shoulder as she walked towards her bedroom.

'_I only wish I could…'_ Shizune thought before she disappeared out the door.

Tenten entered her room and cuddled with the baby as she started to sing a lullaby to the girl with a hushed voice.

Kumiko, as Tenten had named the child, slowly drifted off into a blissful sleep. Tenten placed the baby in her crib before she prepared herself for bed.

However, no matter how much she tried she couldn't fall asleep. Her thoughts always wandered to the mysterious shinobi in kiri that may or may not be her Yama-kun.

She got a giddy feeling in her stomach when she thought about finding him again, to hold him again, to cuddle with him again and… to kiss him again.

Of course she wanted to let him know that he had a child. Kami knew she owed him a beating for making her go through the pain of child birth alone. A cruel smile spread across her face as she thought about what she could do to him.

She groaned when Kumiko started crying for some reason. She stood up and walked over to the crib.

Almost immediately did she pinch her nose and make a face of disgust.

'_When I find him, he is so taking over the diaper changing.'_

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Naruto sat at a small ramen stand in kiri while engulfing huge amounts of ramen. Food like this was very hard to get when you're fighting in a civil war.

The ramen was tasty, but couldn't even begin to compare with Ichiraku's.

As he finished his fifteenth bowl he paid and walked off. It was incredible how fast kiri recovered and how happy the people where.

The population of kiri had immediately accepted Mei as their new kage. The reason was that she promised no more slaughter of innocent clans or people and the promise of kiri to prosper, although being the leader of the rebellion was probably also a help.

However, there still remained some people that was loyal to the late Mizukage's ideals.

As he walked down the streets he noticed one very big difference between kiri and Konoha. In Konoha people straight up ignored him and walked past him like he didn't exist. They even beat him up at times.

However here in kiri the people waved at him and greeted him when he passed them. Some of them even bowed and thanked him for helping with freeing the country. They were actually happy for him being there, despite their knowledge of what he contained.

Yes, the people knew what he contained. However, that did not stop them in being nice to him which was the opposite of what he experienced in Konoha.

He felt something in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt the need to protect these people who believed in him and supported him.

This was when his new dream presented itself. Being Hokage was definitively a lost cause… but now the Mizukage seat had opened up for him.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

While packing his bag, Yamada had to think back on what had happened the year that had passed. To say that he was overwhelmed sometimes was actually spot on.

First he had found out that Mei had started his sister's ninja training. First he was furious at the red head and had asked her why. When Yumi was young it was discovered that she couldn't work the family's bloodline limit.

They were told that it was somewhat common for one or more members of the family to not get it. That was when Michishige decided that she would not be trained like a shinobi.

Mei had said that Yumi had a lot of potential as a shinobi and it would be a waste not to train her. This ended up in a very heated argument between Yamada and Mei about the young blonde's training.

It eventually ended with Yamada being told of by his younger sister when she stated that she wanted to be a shinobi. Yamada eventually gave up on making her change her mind even if he didn't like it.

That was basically the only major thing that happened. Well, except all the big battles and victories the rebels had.

Now he was busy packing his bag to go away for probably a couple of years to train with his summon. The day the chimera would come and get him was tomorrow.

Today was his last day in kiri for now at least. Kind of ironic really, he had just freed the country and now he was leaving it.

He looked up at the clock and noticed it was almost time for Mei's coronation as Mizukage. He grabbed his bag and placed it near the door. He would be going very early the next morning.

He walked out of the room and towards the Mizukage tower.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"People of kiri! I present to you the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei!" The old man shouted before he stepped aside to let the new kage step forward.

Mei stepped forward, with a smile ever present on her face as she looked down at the huge crowd that had gathered at the base of the tower.

The red head raised both her hands, making the crowd grow silent. "Today Kirigakure no Sato enters a new era, an era of peace!" Mei begun her speech, but was cut off by ear deafening applause.

When the crowd had calmed down again she continued. "As I said; an era of peace. However, Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni is in very bad shape! The economy is crippled, buildings have been destroyed and people have lost their families and loved ones!

It will take time to reform and rebuild Kiri and Mizu, but I promise you on the title of Mizukage that I will lead you all in this reformation and protect you all as long as I still breathe!" Mei finished her speech and the crowd erupted into cheers once again, only this time louder than the first time.

Mei bowed to the crowd before she turned around and walked into the tower. She arrived in her office where Yamada, Ao, Naruto, Yumi, Haku, Chōjūrō and Misaki were waiting.

"Quite a speech Mizukage-sama." Ao said with a bow and a small smile. "Yeah, they were some pretty good lies." Yamada said which earned him a hit in the head from both Yumi and Haku.

"What was that for? I was just joking." Yamada said while he rubbed his head and pouted. "Yeah, whatever oniisan. You were great obasan." Yumi said as she walked forward and hugged her aunt figure.

Haku nodded and smiled while she completely ignored the glances Chōjūrō sent her and Misaki was arguing with Naruto about something.

Mei smiled at the people in front of her. They were all like a little family. She then frowned when she thought of the next day.

Yamada, Naruto and Misaki would all three go on a training trip. Naruto and Misaki were to go with Jiraiya to train in controlling their tailed beast. It was decided by Jiraiya himself that she would come with them.

Apparently he knew of the seal that was used on her and therefore he could probably stop her if she got out of control. He wasn't called a Fūinjutsu master for nothing.

Yamada was to go with his summon to the summon realm and train there kami knew how long.

She didn't know how long it was until she would see them again so she decided right there to make the rest of the day special.

"Well since we are all gathered here one last time, why don't we go out and eat before some of us go their separate ways?" She asked with a smile.

Everyone seemed to agree and they all went out on a local restaurant, against Naruto's protests who wanted to go to a ramen stand.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"I guess this is it." Yamada said as he stood before the gang. He had gotten a message from Kaze earlier that day that he would be reverse summoned in a couple of hours.

Now he was basically just waiting for it while he and his friends stood in the Mizukage's office. "I guess I will see you in some years. Ero-sennin said we have to head out now." Naruto said to his longtime friend.

"I guess it's goodbye for now." Yamada said as he shook his friend's hand. What he didn't expect, however, was to be pulled into a hug by the blonde.

"Goodbye Yamada." The blonde said before he pulled back with his goofy grin on his face. Next came Misaki who tackled Yamada with a hug.

"I'm going to miss you." Misaki said as she hugged him even tighter. Yamada patted the girls shoulder and smiled down at her. "Hey, we will meet again right? By the time we meet again I want you to be stronger." He said in a comforting tone.

"And maybe you will finally be able to beat me." He joked and received a cute pout from the little girl in return, although Misaki couldn't conceal the smile on her face for too long.

Next to step forward was Yumi. "We were just reunited one year ago and now you're running of again, I'm hurt." She joked which received a few chuckles from around the room.

The two also engulfed each other in a hug. "You come back alive, you hear me? I don't want you to leave my life again. You're the only family I have left."

"It's not like I am going somewhere dangerous and you know me, I couldn't die even if I wanted too." He said while he returned the hug. Yumi pulled back and smiled up at her brother.

"Well, you better keep that promise then." She said before she walked to stand alongside Mei which now stepped forward.

"You're one of my best shinobi and the people love you. I am very reluctant to letting you go for Kami knows how long." She said with her ever present smile.

"I'm hurt Mei, is that the only reason you want me to stay." Yamada said with a mock hurt expression. Mei rolled her eyes and hit him in the back of the head.

"Oh grow up." She said before she sat down behind her desk. "We both know that's never going to happen." Yamada replied with a smirk, but the kage pretended like she didn't hear him.

Chōjūrō and Ao just gave him a simple handshake and a 'good luck'. It was Haku's goodbye that he didn't look forward too. The girl had become almost clingy in the last few months, almost like she was desperate.

It kind of disgusted Yamada a little, but he knew he could never bring himself to hate her. She was his friend after all.

He was about to speak to her when she stepped up, but didn't get the chance to as her lips connected with his. It only lasted a couple of seconds and she left the room before he could speak up.

That was the first time she had done that ever. Other than that time in wave that was the first kiss between the two.

The room was captured in a silence that didn't seem to want to let go. They all knew of Haku's feelings for Yamada, but they didn't think she would do something like this.

The silence was broken by someone clearing their throat by the window of the room. Everyone turned to Jiraiya who had entered through the window.

"Well, I've got to tell you you're one lucky kid." He said with a grin. Yamada blushed despite the circumstances and was about to yell, but didn't get the chance to as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I guess it was time for the gaki to go. We got to hit the road as well. Come on kids." The sanin said. With that Naruto, Misaki and Jiraiya left as well.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Well I gotta say I am happy about how this turned out. However it seems like the love triangle is still present ;).

Unfortunately I have some sad new to you guys. There will not be another chapter next week. You see tomorrow I will be going to Manchester in England to watch a football\soccer match and I won't return before Sunday, by which time it will be too late for me to write an entire chapter.

Now over to the next thing I wanted to talk about. I want your honest opinion on something. I must warn you that this will be a minor spoiler about this fic if you continue reading this. So… spoiler alert.

Now that I have warned you, you can't blame me if you read this. I have gone through some scenarios in my head; however I can't find one where the fourth great shinobi war can be avoided. So I want to know what position you guys think Yamada should have in the war. Should he be a commander (and in that case, the commander of what), just a part of a unit (and in that case which unit) or something else. Be honest here guys, I would really appreciate it.

Anyways, don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 1: Return to Kiri

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

Anubis eye:

Hmm… I find your idea interesting and who knows, I might use it. I am really happy that you enjoy my fic and I should be the one thanking you for reading it! :)

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two years later_

"It'll feel good to finally be back again!" Misaki shouted in excitement. "I know right? I can't wait to see Yamada again!" The older blond boy responded with equal amount of excitement.

"You know he might not have returned yet, right?" The oldest one of the group said. "Then we will just have to wait until he returns. Don't be so pessimistic ero-sennin." The blond answered.

"Stop calling me that, Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted while he punched Naruto in the head. "But he does have a point, ero-sennin. You are a pervert." Misaki said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Jiraiya mumbled something about ungrateful brats, but didn't further the argument. In the horizon the gates of kiri could now be seen which made them speed up their tempo.

They had been on the road for two years and it would probably be nice to sleep in something else than a sleeping bag. A lot had happened over the two years as well.

They had pretty early found out which tailed beast Misaki contained after Jiraiya had asked her to contact it. When she came out of her mindscape again she told them it was the five tails, the Gobi.

The five tails primarily resembled a white horse, but with a dolphin's head. It had two pointed long horns and two shorter horns in front.

The Gobi seemed to be a very quiet individual and didn't speak very much. However when it spoke it was very polite towards Misaki, even though it had the pride of any tailed beast.

Misaki's control exercises of the Gobi had gone extremely well and she was now able to control almost two tails. It did not go as smoothly for Naruto however.

He was barely able to control three tails although he had problems in deciding who was friend or foe. One time he was all the way into the fourth tail state and he changed completely.

Jiraiya was hurt pretty badly in the incident, luckily Misaki wasn't anywhere nearby when it happened. Naruto became somewhat afraid of his own power after that and was less willing to going into the tailed beast state.

Jiraiya had tried to convince the blond that he had to use it, but had no luck.

As they approached the gate, they were stopped by five guards. "State your name and business." One female guard said with senborn needles in her hands, ready to throw.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize us Haku-chan." Naruto said as he pulled down his face mask. Haku's features softened when she saw who was behind the mask.

"Naruto, you guys are finally back." She said with a smile as she waived of the four other guards. "Come on, Mizukage-sama would want to meet you at once." She continued before she led them through the streets.

"So you do guard duty now? That must be boring." Misaki said trying to start a conversation. "Not really, I am actually in the hunter-nin corps. I am just stepping in for someone today." Haku replied.

"That's strange, someone from the hunter-nin corps stepping in as guard. That never happened in Konoha." Jiraiya said, but immediately regretted it as Naruto's mood dropped.

Konoha had become somewhat of a taboo for Naruto. Ever since his almost execution he had not appreciated the topic.

"It's quite unusual here too, however I had nothing to do today so I asked Mizukage-sama for something to do." The black haired girl said, never losing her smile.

"So is Yamada back yet?" Naruto asked curiously. Haku's smile faltered a little before she answered. "No, not that I know of at least." They walked the rest of the trip to the tower in silence.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

To say that Kaze and the other heads where impressed was exactly spot on. Yamada had impressed them since day one in the training and never ceased to amaze them.

He had mastered the kenjutsu stile they showed him in two months and even altered it. He had thereafter only used one year to master the power within the Purotekutaa which was unheard of.

Of course, he was the only one who had gotten the chance to master it, but to do it in one year was just ridiculous.

He used ten months to pass any test the three other summon animals could throw at him. He learned that it apparently wasn't impossible to have multiple summoning contracts like so many believed. As long as the summons got along and didn't have anything against each other he could have as many summons as he wanted.

He also used the time to master any jutsu they could come over and even invented some new ones as well. Now, two years after, he stood before the giant beast in his usual attire waiting for the beast to speak.

Nothing had actually changed about his clothes style except he had the kanji of 'master' on the back of his poncho. His height had increased though. He now stood at 169 cm.

"**We have taught you all we know. It's time for you to head back to kiri." **The giant lion head said with a hint of pride in its voice. Yamada bowed deeply for the beast. "Thank you all so much." He said as he straightened his back.

"**But before you go… I think we need to discuss your… condition."** Yamada quirked an eyebrow at this. "What's there to talk about? I already know about it so what other bad news can you give me?"

"**Nothing has changed about your condition, but we still think you should tell at least the Mizukage. You are a ninja under her command after all." **Chikyuu said with concern.

Yamada was about to protest, but sighed in defeat. "Fine, but she will be the only one that gets to know. Can you send me back now?" He asked. Kaze nodded and the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"**How do you think she will take it?"** Chikyuu asked. **"I don't know, but hopefully better than he did."** Kaze replied as the giant beast went to sleep.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada reappeared at the gates of kiri and was instantly surrounded by ninja. "State your name and business in kiri." Stated a female voice said. Yamada grinned behind his mask when he recognized the voice.

"Now don't tell me you don't recognize your own brother." Yamada said as he removed his hood and mask. Yumi instantly jumped him and embraced him in a hug.

"Your back!" She shouted in glee. Yamada chuckled as he hugged her back. After a while they pulled apart and looked each other over.

"So you're a genin now?" Yamada asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, me and my team is on guard duty today." She answered with a sigh.

"So the academy test was easy?" Yamada asked as he tried to keep the conversation going. "Yes, way too easy! Even a civilian could have passed it." She boasted.

"You just think it was easy because you were trained by the current Mizukage." Yamada countered which made Yumi pout. "Yeah, well no one in class cared about that. In fact most of them only talked to me because I am your sister."

"Really?" Yamada asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, you have become quite a celebrity in kiri." The blond girl answered with a nod.

Yamada turned to two other guards who looked to be in Yumi's age group. They seemed to be casting glances towards him and whispering. "Are those two in your team?" Yamada asked.

Yumi nodded with a defeated look on her face. "Unfortunately they are…" Yumi said with a sigh.

"Hmm… anyways, I should probably go and see Mei." Yamada said. "Yeah, she will want to know that you've returned." Yumi said before she hugged her brother one more time and walked back to her team.

Yamada pulled on his hood and mask before he sprinted off into the village. A few minutes later he arrived at the Mizukage tower.

Not feeling like waiting for permission to enter, he decided to climb the wall and enter the window. As he climbed he heard voices from inside the office.

As he got closer he recognized the voices. One was the loud yet somewhat deep voice of a boy which Yamada quickly decided was Naruto.

Another voice was light and boastful which he concluded was Misaki. The third voice was light yet gruff in its own way. That had to be Jiraiya.

The last voice was soft with a feminine tone which was the Mizukage herself. He stopped walking up the wall right outside the window and decided to listen in on the conversation.

"I am glad to see you're all back." Mei said as she smiled at the people in the room. Haku had left to go back to the south gate as soon as she could. The girl really took her duties seriously.

"We're happy to be back!" Misaki shouted as she hugged the Mizukage. Mei chuckled as she hugged the girl back before standing up again. She then turned to Jiraiya.

"I want a full report on what they have learned while being away with you." She stated as she walked behind the desk and sat down. Jiraiya nodded and started his report.

"As you already know, we had no idea which biju which was trapped within the girl so that was the first thing to do on our list. After some time she finally contacted the biju and found out it was the Gobi.

She is now able to control almost two tails without losing control, although at two tails she can't see the difference between friend and foe.

Naruto we already knew possessed the Kyuubi and therefore we went right at the training with him.

He is able to control three tails without losing control although he still has problems in deciding who's an enemy and who's not." Jiraiya finished. This was one of the rare times that he actually managed to stay serious.

"I see…" Mei said as she leaned back in her chair. "So all their other skills are the same as when they left?" She finally asked after a long break.

"We did some polishing on their chakra control and taijutsu, but that's about it." Jiraiya replied with a shrug. Mei nodded and closed her eyes in thought.

When she opened them again she smiled at the two in front of her. "I have decided your ranks by what I have heard. Naruto, I place you as a chunin while Misaki will be a genin."

"Yes! I am no longer a genin!" Naruto shouted in excitement. Misaki pouted slightly at being placed as a genin, but didn't comment on it.

"Now I believe that you can stop listening inn, Yamada." Mei said as she glanced towards the window. Yamada climbed through the window with a sheepish look on his face.

"You knew I was there the whole time, didn't you." He stated more than asked to which Mei nodded. "Yamada!" Misaki shouted as she tackled him with a hug.

The first thing that Yamada noticed was that she had grown. She now stood at 145 cm which was somewhat of an improvement. She had also lost some of her baby fat, but only being ten years old she still had a lot of development to do.

"Good to see you too." He said as he hugged the girl back. Next came Naruto who had changed the most out of the two.

His hair was the same, if not somewhat longer. He was now stood at 166 cm high and his whisker marks had become less defined. For some reason he swore he had seen someone that looked like Naruto somewhere, but he couldn't place it.

He stretched out his hand which Naruto gladly shook. The two smiled at each other and that was all that was needed. No words were exchanged, but they didn't need to. They knew each other that well.

"Jiraiya, you haven't changed at all. And Mei, just as beautiful as ever." Yamada said diverting his attention to the other two in the room. Jiraiya snorted while Mei sent him a smile.

"Why Yamada you flatter me." Mei said in an almost sarcastic voice while she rolled her eyes. "So how did your training trip go?" She asked with curiosity.

"Nothing major… I just mastered a new kenjutsu style before I made my own version of it, reached a completely new level in the power department, learned a ton of new jutsus, signed three extra summoning contracts and I am pretty sure I have grown." He finished with a hand on his chin in a thinking position.

Everyone in the room stared at Yamada in disbelief. Had he really done that much in only two years?

What they had learned from their time with Yamada was that he never boasted of his power, but was totally honest if not somewhat modest.

This made them even more disbelieving. If he was being humble now, then who knew what he could do.

"Well, that is certainly an accomplishment; however I still need to test you. Let's say… right now at the training ground outside my window." Mei said breaking the silence.

Yamada only nodded and the whole gang jumped out the window despite the Mizukage's protests.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Not to complain or anything, but didn't you say you were going to test me? I don't feel challenged at all." Yamada said from his spot in the middle of the training field.

Around him lied four jonin and two chunin. _'He didn't even use his sword…or any jutsus…'_ Mei thought in shock. _'Impressive kid.'_ Jiraiya thought with an amused smile.

'_I will beat you one day Yamada, believe it!'_ Naruto thought in excitement.

"Well, I would say you definitively deserve the rank of jonin." Mei said after she cleared her voice.

"Thank you Mizukage-sama, there is also something I would want to talk to you about in private." Yamada said with a serious expression.

Mei raised an eyebrow at this, but nodded none the less. "That's fine; I've got something I want to discuss with you as well in private. Let's head back to my office. The rest of you are dismissed." She said and motioned for the other to leave.

They entered the office and Mei sat down in her chair. They locked eyes for a moment before a small nod was exchanged between them.

Yamada walked calmly over and closed the window before he turned around and looked directly into the top left corner of the room. "You can come out now, little spy." He said with a hint of amusement.

A man with Konoha hitai ate tied to his arm and a blank mask that reminded Yamada of an ANBU mask appeared before the two in a defensive position.

"How did you know I was here?" The man more demanded than asked. "I don't think you are in any position to make demands." Yamada said with a smirk.

They could practically see the man sweat bullets as he tried to think of an escape route, but had no such luck. With the Mizukage blocking the entrance and the unknown shinobi blocking the window, he didn't have a lot of options.

He made a run towards the one he thought was the easiest one, but he ended up unconscious on the floor. "They don't make them like they used to in Konoha." Yamada said as he looked at the fallen shinobi.

"Indeed." The Mizukage agreed. "The Hokage is definitively going to hear about this."

"No, don't' contact the Hokage. This is a ROOT ANBU, one of Danzo's private little army. The Hokage probably didn't have any idea he was here." Yamada said.

"Then what do you propose we do with him?" Mei asked, although she already knew the answer. "You should interrogate him, find out every dirty little secret Danzo or Konoha has. It could benefit us greatly in the future."

Mei nodded and summoned one of her own ANBU to take away the man. They were once again left alone in the room.

Yamada did a few handseals and placed the palm of his hand on the wall. Seals spread out from his hand and covered the entire room with seal markings before they disappeared like they had never been there.

"What did you do?" Mei asked in bewilderment. "I applied a privacy seal to the room. Anything that is said or happens in this room will not be heard or seen by any outsiders."

Mei nodded before her ever present smile disappeared and a serious expression took its place.

"Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"What do you think they are talking about?" Misaki asked as they stepped out of the training ground. "Probably some kind of cool jutsu or something!" Naruto shouted while Jiraiya shook his head in amusement.

They had decided to go out and eat since it was more or less lunch time. They rounded a corner and almost ran into Haku. She had just finished her shift and was on her way to her apartment.

"Hey Haku, we're going to eat lunch! Want to join?" Naruto asked. Haku shrugged and followed them on their way to eat. "Man, it was good to see Yamada again." Naruto said out of the blue.

Haku stopped in her tracks and looked at the blond with hopeful eyes. "You mean he is back?" She asked. Naruto only nodded dumbly and before he knew it she had disappeared from view.

"What was wrong with her?" Naruto asked in confusion. Jiraiya shook his head. "Only you can be that stupid, Naruto." The sanin mumbled before he walked on.

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" Naruto shouted completely forgetting the girl that dashed off.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"I see… so how long until it happens?" Mei asked. She had not been expecting what she was just told. "Between three to four years at the most." Yamada replied from his seat in the chair.

Mei sighed deeply as she thought over it. "I don't want you to tell anyone else about this, if it's alright. I would like to keep it a secret." Yamada said.

Mei nodded with a sad smile. "Of course." She replied softly. "Now there were some things I wanted to give you as well, however from the news you just brought me I don't know…" Mei said, but was cut off by Yamada.

"Don't think just because of this that I am not going to be a ninja anymore. I am not going to let this hold me back." Yamada said stubbornly. Mei smiled at him.

"Very well then, if you really want to then I want you to listen to my proposal." She said. He nodded for her to continue and she did.

"I plan to remake the Ninja swordsmen of the mist." The red head stated. Yamada stared at her blankly for a few seconds before the words sunk in. "And what does that have to do with me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The fact remains that you and Chōjūrō are the only ones in the village who has mastered kenjutsu. When I asked Chōjūrō about it he said he would like to be a part of it, but did not see himself as the leader type and therefore did not want to be the leader of the swordsmen.

That's where you come in, Yamada. I want you to take up leadership of The Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist." Mei finished. She looked at him for a response, but all she saw was a passive face.

"So you think I would be a good leader?" He asked curiously. "With the way you commanded in the civil war I would say you are the best suited for the job." Mei said.

Yamada sighed heavily as he thought over the proposition. It was a good position and offered a good pay, but he wasn't too reliant on his sword.

"I've got a few conditions." Yamada said and Mei nodded for him to continue. "I don't want to be heaped up in the village doing paperwork and occasionally go on missions. I want to get out there and see the rest of the world the next few years, so this is what I propose.

I will travel the elemental nations and gather Intel on the other villages and other things that might help kiri. I will send word whenever I want help from any of the other swordsmen and I can act as some sort of diplomat for you.

I also want a small solid group of none swordsmen to travel with me." He finished and waited for a response. He had practically given her a golden opportunity to get good relations with other nations and didn't demand much in return.

"You have used a lot of time to think this through, haven't you?" Mei asked with a smirk. "Well, I have been gone for two years." Yamada said with a shrug.

"You've got yourself a deal Yamada." Mei said after a while and stretched out her hand. Yamada shook it and smiled at the kage.

"Now to walk you through your responsibilities as leader of the swordsmen." She said and Yamada groaned in boredom.

"Do we have to do that now? I just returned to the village and I am really tired." He complained. "We will do it now so that we won't have to do it another time." Mei responded sternly. Yamada groaned again, but listened as she spoke

"Now, as the leader of the swordsmen it is your responsibility to choose who are to join and not. Once a year or so I will give you a list of potential swordsmen to go through. Any of them that you deem worthy you will report to me."

"Wait, so the swordsmen of the mist won't be just seven anymore?" Yamada asked with a raised eyebrow. "No, they will be their own division inside our ninja ranks. We will also start teaching kenjutsu for those that wants to learn in the academy. Chōjūrō has volunteered for this."

"So basically I don't have any swordsmen to call on yet." Yamada stated more than asked. "Currently you are the only swordsman on active duty yes." Mei responded with a nod.

"Although while you are gone on your travels the other swordsmen will still go on missions without you." She said and he nodded.

"As for your other conditions, you will get the diplomatic power of a diplomat, but any final agreement will have to go through me and the daimyo."

Yamada nodded in understanding. He found all that she said reasonable and fair.

"As for where you are going to live while you are in the village, you have a few options. One is to live at the base of the swordsmen, you could live with me or your sister or you could build your own house on a free plot of land."

Yamada didn't need any time to think it over. "I told myself I would rebuild my clan so if you don't mind, I would like to build my own house. I also want the Hayato name to get clan status again." He said with a serious expression.

"You know my offer from two and a half years ago still stands." Mei said softly as she placed her hand over his on her desk.

_Flashback_

_Yamada entered his sleeping quarters after a long and tire full day. He had just returned from another victories battle against the fourth Mizukage's forces._

_As he closed the door behind him he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the arms and slammed the person against the nearest wall._

_However, he did not expect to see Terumī Mei sneaking up behind him. "What do you want, Mei-san?" Yamada asked, but did not release his grip._

"_My, my, aren't you a tad bit violent." Mei stated with amusement clear in her voice. Yamada released her and walked over to his bed to sit down._

"_I will ask again, what do you want." Yamada asked again as he eyed the red head carefully. "Straight to the point I see… I like it." Mei said with a devious smile.  
><em> 

"_You see Yamada-kun…" Mei started as she slowly walked towards him. Yamada raised an eyebrow at the added suffix, but waited to see where this was going._

"_Many of the women in the rebellion find you an attractive man, many of which would love to get their hands on you. I don't feel ashamed saying that I am one of them." Mei continued as she stopped right in front of him._

_Yamada just sat there in silence while looking up at the beauty in front of him. That's right; he looked at her as a beauty. Which man in their right mind wouldn't? However, he did not see how anything could happen between them._

"_Despite how flattered I am, Mei-san I must decline." Yamada said in an emotionless tone. Mei frowned upon his words. "And why is that?" The read head asked._

"_First of all, the age difference is way too big." Yamada said to which Mei snorted with some amusement. "Age doesn't matter in the shinobi world, Yamada-kun." Mei whispered as she pushed him back and sat down on his lap._

"_Secondly, I don't see you as anything else than a friend at the moment. Anything that would develop between us now would just be because of primal urges which I have to admit disgust me." Yamada finished while trying to resist his own primal urges._

_Mei looked at him with a hurt expression. "Don't you think of me as attractive?" She asked. "You misunderstood me, Mei-san. I do indeed find you very attractive; however we should focus on the war and get to know each other more if you want something between us." Yamada continued._

_Mei looked him in the eye for several minutes before she nodded and got of him. "You're a good man, Yamada. You are the type of man many women would love to have." She said before she walked out of the room._

_Flashback end_

Yamada smiled slightly at the memory. "I will keep it in mind, Mizukage-sama." Yamada said softly. Mei smiled at him before she retracted her hand.

Mei then handed him a paper. "This is the address of an empty plot of land. Don't worry about paying for it though. Kirigakure owes you a lot as it is." She said. Yamada looked at her with an amused smile.

"Have you been planning this for a long time?" He asked with amusement clear in his voice. "Well, I didn't plan it all out. However I did plan some things." The kage clarified.

"As for the team you're taking with you… we will discuss that another day. Right now it seems like we have a visitor."

No sooner had Mei said that did the door burst open and Haku ran inside breathing heavily. She immediately took notice of the boy she was looking for sitting in a chair in front of the Mizukage's desk.

Her eyes widened a moment later when she realized that she had rushed into the office without permission. In her search for Yamada she didn't seem to think of where she was going.

"I am very sorry for this, Mizukage-sama." The black haired, eighteen year old girl said with a deep bow. Mei merely waved her off with a smile.

"It is ok, Haku. We were just finishing things here. Yamada you are free to go. Do you want me to send an architect to meet you at your plot?" She asked referring to where his future house would be.

"Who said I needed and architect?" Yamada asked with a grin before he walked towards the door, Haku right behind him. Mei pondered on his words before she realized what he meant.

'_The Mokuton of course.'_ She thought with a smile. He was certainty an interesting boy.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

As soon as they were outside the office Yamada was engulfed in a hug by Haku. They had not yet spoken to each other which brought Haku even worse.

She had been feeling bad ever since she kissed him that day two years ago. She just got tired of waiting and decided to act on her feelings, although she obviously hadn't thought it through enough.

"I am sorry for what I did two years ago." She blurted out as soon as they pulled apart from their hug. "I was just acting on my feelings and I will never do it again." She continued while looking at the floor in shame.

A long silence entered as Yamada was thinking through his next words carefully. "You don't have to apologize." He said surprising Haku.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "You acted on your feelings, but the reason to you acting that way is because I ignored your advances for over a year. If anyone should apologize it should be me." Yamada stated.

Haku stared at him a moment with a look of disbelief on her face. "I still want some time… but next time I might do it willingly." He continued somewhat reluctantly as he looked at the girl in front of him who was now staring back at him with wide eyes.

It took her a moment to realize what he had just told her and another moment to process the words. After a while she smiled a happy smile at him. "I would very much like that." She said with a soft and happy voice.

Yamada smiled back at her before he spoke. "Now, I am starving so why don't we go to have lunch together?" He asked to which Haku happily accepted.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"There is nothing here!" Naruto exclaimed as they arrived at the empty plot of land Yamada was now the owner off. He and Haku had run into the others on their way to lunch and the group had joined them in their quest for a good lunch spot.

After lunch they all decided to come along with Yamada to check out his new property.

"That is because the house hasn't been built yet." Yamada said with a slight hint of irritation. "Where will you live until you get the house built then?" Yumi asked curiously.

Instead of explaining it to them, Yamada just stepped forward and crossed his arms over his chest. "Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu!" He whispered to himself.

Several wood pillars shot out of the ground which soon formed the foundations of a giant mansion. The rest of the mansion was just as easily constructed with more wood release.

The onlookers watched in awe as the giant structure came together and now stood proudly in front of them. "Amazing." Misaki said and the others could only nod in agreement.

"How did you do that without handseals." Jiraiya asked, bringing everyone else out of their awe inspired stare. "I managed to do it without handseals because I have done something that probably only Hashirama Senju has done before me." Yamada stated with a hint of pride of himself.

"And what is that?" The sanin asked with a raised eyebrow. Yamada fixed the sanin with a serious stare. "I have mastered the Mokuton." He stated.

Jiraiya could only nod dumbly in response since that was a reasonable explanation, almost unbelievable but reasonable.

"There must be a lot of rooms inside that mansion." Naruto said stating the obvious. "There are actually fifteen rooms on each floor." Yamada said bringing the attention back on him.

"Why would you need so many rooms?" Haku asked with a raised eyebrow. "Would never hurt to have many guestrooms." He said with a shrug which made everyone sweat drop.

"I also thought that some of you didn't have a place to live yet, so you are welcome to live here if you want to." He added as he smiled at the group.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

That evening Yamada had just finished setting up the furniture he had brought with him from his apartment in Konoha. Now he really was glad that he brought it with him.

However, the house was so big that it had not even covered half the furnishings of the house. Luckily the others who had moved in with him had some furnishing themselves and that helped.

There was more than one person who had expressed their appreciation when Yamada had offered them a place to live.

Even Yumi, who had an apartment, decided she wanted to stay there just because she wanted to be as close to her remaining family as possible.

Naruto and Misaki had also decided to stay since they didn't have any place to stay. Jiraiya had said no to the offer because he probably wouldn't be around too often.

Haku had practically jumped at the opportunity and said yes immediately. She had been sharing apartment with Yumi for the two years Yamada had been gone and said she would feel lonely if she had to live completely alone.

Things were so far going great; however there was two things they still did not have which was a water source and electricity.

Water could be easily fixed, however a power line they would have to send in an application for which would take a lot of time.

Deciding to take care of one problem at the time, Yamada walked out into the huge backyard. Even though the house was as big as a mansion they still had a lot of space to expand on.

Yamada walked around twenty meters away from the house before he placed his hands on the ground. "Doton: Doryū Jōheki!" He said to himself.

The jutsu caused a gigantic rampart to rise up beneath Yamada's feet. It was easily on the size of the house, if not bigger. He then went through a set of handseals.

"Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu!" He said with calm.

The technique created a waterfall that came crashing down from the rampart and onto the land underneath it. The jutsu he had just used created a spring of water on top of the rampart which gave them unlimited amounts of water.

Yamada jumped down and clapped his hands together. "That takes care of the water problem." He said with a happy tone. He then turned to the entrance to see Haku standing there.

"What's up?" He asked as he approached her. "We have set up everything inside, but we still need power for most of it to work." She informed him.

"I will talk with Mizukage-sama about it tomorrow. We can survive for that long without electricity." Yamada stated with a wave of his hand. "For now let us get some sleep. It's late." He finished.

"When are we going to have our first date then?" Haku asked. "Do we really need it? We've known each other for some years already." Yamada responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe you're right… but I still want to go on dates." Haku said sternly which made Yamada laugh. "Yeah, yeah, just go to sleep."

Haku huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You said it yourself; we have known each other for years so why can't we sleep in the same bed?" She asked with a pout on her face.

"Because I want to take it slowly." Yamada partially lied. He wasn't quite ready for that yet and there was a part of him that told him it would feel wrong. Haku huffed again, but didn't press the matter.

The two said goodnight and walked into their respective rooms and went to sleep.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"I see you have built your house already." Mei stated as she looked over the document that was just handed to her. It was an application to connect a power cord to the newly built house in the village.

Of course she had been expecting it and had already set it up to be fixed immediately.

"So, are we going to discuss the rest of the terms now?" Yamada asked breaking her out of her thoughts. She placed the document of to the side and cleared her throat.

"Yes, now I want to know who you want to take with you and why." The red head said with her ever present smile. "I want to take with me Misaki and Naruto." Yamada responded shortly.

"Please explain." The kage said with a raised eyebrow. Yamada took a deep breath before he started his explanation.

"As you know, the akatsuki is hunting down and extracting biju from Jinchuuriki. I want to take them with me because they will be harder for the akatsuki to track down if they are constantly on the move.

I am also one of the only people that can restrain them since I have the Mokuton and the sharingan. I also want to take with me the scroll with the Sanbi."

Mei leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes in thought. The boy represented some valuable arguments that were for sure. "But what if the akatsuki manages to find you? Will you be able to protect them as well?" She asked after a long silence.

Yamada pondered on this for a minute or two before he answered. "I believe so yes." He said simply.

"Very well, if you believe you are able to do this then I will not argue. However if a war or another situation like it arises I need them to return. Now, there is another problem that has risen." She said which earned her a raised eyebrow from the boy in her office.

"And that is?" Yamada asked curiously.

"Konoha, two years ago, asked for an audience concerning a treaty. While they reassure me that it is just a talk about a treaty, I suspect that they might have heard rumors about you and want to investigate. I prolonged the meeting, but I am running out of excuses." Mei said with a serious expression.

Yamada pondered on these words for some time. This was indeed troubling. If they knew it was him then they would surely try to bring him back to Konoha. Then an idea popped into his head.

"Let them come after I have left and try convincing them that it was just a rumor. However, should that fail I want you to get my file from the daimyo's archives. There it should explain that I belonged to Mizu no Kuni long before I belonged to the land of fire." Yamada explained.

"If they then still try to take me it would result in a war, something that Konoha doesn't have the recourses for. Despite their claim for being the strongest they do not have enough resources since Suna broke their alliance and trade agreement."

"You really are brilliant, you know?" Mei stated with a soft smile spreading on her face. "Thanks for stating the obvious." Yamada joked lightly.

"Well, I think this meeting is over then. Which country will you try to make a treaty with first?" Mei asked as she stood from her seat and stretched.

"I have good relations with the daimyo in Yu no Kuni so I will head there first. Who knows, maybe I will get us a good alliance with them." Mei nodded at the answer and smiled.

"I look forward to the reply from the meeting." The kage said. Yamada nodded before he bowed. "If that was all Mizukage-sama I will take my leave." He said before he walked towards the door.

However, before he walked out he turned to her with an evil smirk. "Looks like you've got more work to do." He said before he disappeared out of the office.

Mei was confused by his words that are until her assistant came through the door with a huge stack of paperwork.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_One week later in Konoha_

Tenten had just been called to Tsunade's office. For what she had no idea, but it had to be important since she had to leave in the middle of her shift in the hospital.

She knocked on the office door and entered when she was told to. Tsunade was, like always, sitting behind her desk signing documents. She looked up at her apprentice with an impatient look.

"Took you long enough. Especially since it is about your lost boyfriend." She stated. Tenten's eyes widened at those words. "You mean the Mizukage has finally said yes?" She asked in excitement.

Tsunade nodded and couldn't help but to let a small smile slip through her façade when she looked at her apprentice's happy face. "Yes and you will be coming with me as one of my escorts. We will leave in a couple of hours. I want to arrive early to give a good impression."

Tenten nodded and hurried out the door and towards the Hokage mansion. She was finally going to see Yamada again. Well, that is if it even was Yamada.

She ran through the door nearly colliding with Shizune who was carrying a crying two year old. The older woman sent a thankful look towards Tenten when she took the baby from her arms.

Tenten held the girl high up in the air before she spun around in a circle and proceeded to pull the baby close and cuddle it. Even though she was two years old she was still a baby.

"Looks like you might see your father again soon." She whispered to the smaller girl. A year and a half ago, hair started to grow on her head. It was then revealed that she had the same hair color as her mother.

Shizune turned to the younger girl. "So the Mizukage finally gave in?" She asked. Shizune had taken on the role as a permanent babysitter since Tsunade was the Hokage and Tenten worked on the hospital and took missions now and then.

"Yes, we are leaving in a few hours so you might have to take care of her for some days." Tenten replied happily.

Shizune sighed heavily at this. It wasn't that she didn't like babysitting, quite the opposite. She had actually wanted a child of her own, but never found someone to have it with.

However she could just use a break from the little girl. She could be extremely hyper at times.

"Don't worry Shizune, we will be back before you know it and if things go right I might just take a week or two free." The brown haired girl said with a small smile.

"That sounds great and all, but shouldn't you get going?" Shizune asked as she looked at the clock. Tenten looked at the clock and her eyes widened before she kissed the baby on the head and handed her over to Shizune.

"Thanks Shizune, see you in a couple of weeks. I think Kumiko just did something in her diaper." Tenten shouted over her shoulder before she disappeared out the door.

Shizune blinked two times before she sniffed in the air. She immediately got a look of disgust as she quickly carried Kumiko to the bathroom.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two days later in Kirigakure_

Yamada walked down the main street of kiri. He, Misaki and Naruto were going to head for Yu no Kuni in a couple of days and he had made sure everything was ready.

Haku was hugely disappointed when she found out she hadn't been chosen to come with him, but got over it after a while. Naruto was excited to go on another adventure and so was Misaki. The two of them were like twins sometimes.

Of course, Misaki was a little shy when she first met people unlike Naruto who were rude to almost everyone, but once you got to know her you would find her to be as crazy as the blond.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a young boy running up to him asking for his autograph. It seemed that Yumi hadn't lied when she said he was a celebrity.

He had noticed it in his stay in kiri. Constantly people came up to him to either just say hi or ask for an autograph or to thank him for freeing kiri. After a while he began hiding from the people.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that he thought he would get away from the fangirls by abandoning Konoha. However it seemed like there were many fangirls in kiri as well which annoyed him to the extremes.

Today however he had decided to try his luck and walk through the streets with his guard up of course.

"Taichou." Chōjūrō greeted after he appeared at Yamada's side. Yamada got an almost annoyed look on his face when he heard that word.

"I have told you this before Chōjūrō and I'll say it again, call me Yamada. Just because I'm your boss now doesn't mean you have to call me that." He said.

Chōjūrō scratched the back of his head with a small smile. "Sorry Yamada." He answered with an embarrassed look.

"Anyways, what did you want?" Yamada asked. Chōjūrō suddenly got a serious expression on his face. "The Hokage and her escorts have been sighted going of a boat on the island. They will be here soon. Mizukage-sama said you will have to move out immediately." He said with a serious expression.

Yamada sighed, but nodded none the less. "Find Naruto and Misaki and tell them to meet me at the south gate in ten minutes." Chōjūrō nodded before he disappeared in a swirl of water.

Yamada headed directly towards his mansion, gathered up his gear and set out towards the south gate. There he met Naruto and Misaki which were just as ready as he was.

"What's with the rush?" Naruto asked. "Tsunade is already on the island. It seems they wanted to be here early." Yamada said and everyone could see Naruto stiffen when Tsunade was mentioned.

"Let's move out! We will move in a triangle formation until we arrive at a port on the north side of the island." Yamada said. "Then why didn't we start from the north gate?" Misaki asked with curiosity.

"Because that's where the Konoha ninja will arrive. Now let's go!" Yamada shouted and left no room for arguments as he jumped into a nearby tree, the other two following suit.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Orochimaru-sama, Yamada-kun has left Kirigakure." Kabuto said to his master. "Good, send… her after him." Orochimaru said with an evil chuckle.

"Are you sure you want 'her' to chase him?" Kabuto asked a bit hesitantly. "You still don't trust her, do you? Anyways, it doesn't matter. I'm sure she will be able to persuade him. After all, they have some… history."

Evil laughter could be heard through the entire complex.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Chapter one is done! Oh, and I am back from Manchester by the way. It was an amazing trip and I don't regret it, especially since my team won!

Now over to something else. It has come to my attention that I may have to rewrite the earlier chapters of the first installment. I have read over it a couple of times and I find it kind of lacking on several parts. However, I am not going to do that until after I have finished this installment so rest assured.

The third topic I wanted to mention was the canon timeline… I will totally screw it up! I will write in some of the filler characters and maybe some of the plots as well, but that will be very rare. They will, however, appear on random parts of the story. Instead of following the canon I am going to mix it up. The parts of the story that is not about the filler characters will also appear randomly. I hope I explained it well enough…

Anyways, don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 2: Konoha's Demands

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

Jack (guest):

I um… actually have other plans for Mei so… I don't think that's going to work. Hope this doesn't affect your opinion about my fic though. Thank you for reading it btw. ^_^

Kyle (Guest):

Like I said to the reviewer above; I already have other plans for Mei. Although if I keep getting reviews that tells me what the two of you tell me then I might probably do it. Thank you for reading and I am glad you enjoy my writing.

Guest:

Seriously, why does everyone say that?! I am going to tell you what I told the two above; I have other plans for Mei.

.9:

Well, now that I have taken a look at the wiki I think I know what you mean. I will just have to change his height then.

milpld:

Heh, well I have read through your review and I have nothing against it. You prove some valid points; however, there are some things I would like to clear up for ya.

This woman is not from Yamada's clan, of that I can assure you. I am not trying to create the second Uchiha clan here. And Itachi massacred his own clan, Yamada didn't. He is not a missing nin anymore either.

And come on, he doesn't hate Konoha. However, he doesn't have anyone or anything that can emotionally attach him to Konoha (even though he actually does). And Yamada doesn't have a younger brother that wants to kill him.

As for the question at the end; do you really think Naruto would have noticed? He is the most oblivious character in the entire series. Seriously the only thing he does notice is if someone wants to teach him something (just my honest opinion). There is also the fact that Tenten was isolated almost from the moment she woke up in the morgue.

I hope I answered some of your questions here and I am really happy that you enjoy the fic.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Tenten, Tsunade and Kakashi stood outside the gates of Kirigakure no Sato. They just arrived a couple of minutes ago and were waiting for their clearance to go see the Mizukage.

They had handed over the documents and the shinobi who received them disappeared in a swirl of water. While they were waiting, Tenten thought back to the conversation with the council of Konoha two days ago.

_Flashback_

"_We cannot inform you enough of how important these talks are, Tsunade-hime. We need that boy back in our possession." Homura said as he slammed his fist into the table._

_Tenten and Kakashi was standing behind Tsunade's chair, waiting. They were just about to leave, but was stopped by an ANBU that was sent by the council._

"_I already know the importance of these talks. However you must not forget that we need allies as well since Suna ended ours and it is not even certain the Hayato boy is there." Tsunade stated._

"_This boy is more important than some alliance. If they refuse to hand him over then we are going to declare war." Danzo said. "Are you all crazy? Our economy is weak enough as it is! We cannot afford a war at this moment!" Tsunade shouted as she stood up from her chair._

"_She does have a point. We do not have the resources to supply our troops should we go to war." Shikaku Nara stated from his chair. "Thank you Shikaku, now if you will excuse me honorable council, I have a Mizukage to visit." And with that Tsunade, Tenten and Kakashi tried to leave the room but were again stopped._

"_Hold it there, Tsunade. We will send Danzo with you to these negotiations. He will make sure that the deal is fair." Koharu said in a tone that left no room for argument._

_Tsunade sighed heavily. "Fine, get ready or we will leave without you." She said and stormed out of the room._

_Flashback end_

And true enough, Danzo had tagged along and had kept quiet the whole trip. Strangely enough he did not bring with him his own bodyguards.

"Your papers are valid, follow me." A girl's voice said from in front of them. All four turned to see a blond haired girl with a friendly smile on her face. And a kiri hitai ate tied around her head.

They followed the girl through the gates and into the lively streets of kiri. The village looked like the bloodline war had never happened. Children were running in the streets, merchants were selling their wares and everything seemed so peaceful.

"Your village seems to have quickly gotten to its feet after the war." Kakashi commented as he looked around the village. "Yes, Mizukage-sama has done a very good job. Every building that was destroyed has been built up again and the economy is back on track although it is very fragile at the moment. I am Yumi by the way." The girl said.

"Nice to meet you Yumi, I am Tsunade and this is Danzo, Tenten and Kakashi." Tsunade said with a smile form under her kage hat.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Yumi said with a big smile. She then noticed the book Kakashi was holding in his hand and immediately came to the assumption that he was a pervert.

They finally arrived at the Mizukage's office and took their seats in front of her desk. There was a moment of silence where Mei's eyes darted across the four newcomers in her office.

"I am terribly sorry for our talks to take place so late after your request Hokage-dono. You see I was very busy with getting kiri back to its former glory." The red head said. Although it was meant as an apology it sounded more like a statement.

"It is quite all right." Tsunade said with a smile. "Before these talks continue there is something else we would like to talk about." Danzo shot in before Tsunade managed to say anything more. _'Here we go…'_ Mei thought with an internal sigh.

"Whatever do you mean?" Mei asked with a raised eyebrow. "We would just want to know if you are housing Hayato Yamada as one of your shinobi." Danzo questioned in a not to friendly tone. He was not someone to dance around the bush that was for sure.

"And what if I do?" Mei asked with a hint of amusement, although it was very hard to notice. "Then we, the Konoha council, demand that you hand him over! He is the property of Konoha and you have…" Danzo started, but was interrupted.

"Absolutely no obligation to hand over my shinobi to you!" Mei said in a tone that left no room for any arguments. "Even if he was here, which he isn't, I would never hand over such a talented shinobi to a possible enemy." Mei stated.

"Then what is this rumor we have heard about a shinobi with the sharingan in your ranks?" Danzo spat. "It is only that; merely a rumor." Mei said.

"Then we demand that you hand over the shinobi these rumors started with." Danzo stated. A chuckle was heard from the Mizukage. "You really got some balls, Shimura Danzo of Konoha. I could have you all killed in the blink of an eye right where you sit and you dare make demands." Mei said, her voice rising by each word.

"I will not hand over one of my best shinobi to a hidden village who can't even keep their own shinobi in line!" Mei thundered. "Is this a declaration of war against the strongest ninja village?" Danzo asked.

"Oh please, even if I did, it's not like you would last three minutes against us." Mei said with a scoff. "I beg your pardon." Danzo said in an insulted tone. "Well, its obvious isn't it? You have lost two of the great sanin, two prodigies never before seen and you're only Jinchuuriki.

We on the other hand have gathered ourselves two Jinchuuriki, one tailed beast sealed in a scroll and the ninja swordsmen of the mist has been re-established. If anyone should be considered the strongest village it should be us." Mei said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Everyone from Konoha was shocked by the Mizukage's words. Three Jinchuuriki was unheard of! How they gathered that many tailed beasts was a mystery to Konoha at the moment.

Meanwhile Mei was deep in thought. She knew how far the Konoha council could go to get back someone as valuable as Yamada, but would they really stretch it this far? She was definitely certain her own council would not do something like this.

They were there for the sole purpose of being her advisers and would not get any power unless it was an emergency situation.

"I see that an agreement cannot be made when this councilman is here so I suggest you come back when you have the backbone to face me alone, Hokage-dono." Mei said.

The four from Konoha where then showed out of the office. "Ao here will take you to your hotel. Do not go of wandering to places you shouldn't be." Mei said before the door shut behind them.

All hope Tenten had of finding Yamada again was now ruined. She wanted to break down and cry, but wouldn't. No matter what she would not cry.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"I'm bored." Naruto and Misaki said in unison as they leaned on the railing of the boat that was to take them to Yu no Kuni. This made Yamada's eyebrow twitch in annoyance as he opened his eyes to look at the two.

They had only been at the ocean a couple of hours and they were already complaining. Apparently trying to meditate was not possible when these two where nearby.

"We have only been at sea for three hours and they are already complaining." Yamada muttered bitterly to himself. This was going to be a very long ride.

Eventually the two walked back to their rooms on the boat and Yamada finally got the peace he wanted. However, he wasn't left in peace alone as a figure appeared behind him out of thin air.

"Have you considered my offer?" Yamada turned around and was met with the same shinobi who approached him two years ago. "Yes, as a matter of fact I have." Yamada replied.

"And what is your decision?" The orange masked man asked impatiently. "The answer is thanks, but no thanks. You see recent revelations have led me to understand that life really is too short and I should enjoy it while I still can." Yamada replied before he turned back around and closed his eyes.

"Very well, I will not press this matter. But mark my words, you will regret turning me down." The masked man said before he disappeared in thin air. _'_You will pay for turning me down' was the hidden meaning in the words.

Yamada used another minute to sense if the man was still nearby. When he came up with nothing he refocused on his meditation. _'I really hope that was just an empty threat.'_ Yamada thought.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Am I going to have more questions about my shinobi today or can we get on with the matters at hand?" Mei asked the Hokage. "Yes I also believe it's time to discuss the treaty and let me sincerely apologize for my council members comments yesterday." The blond kage responded with a small glare towards Danzo.

"It is ok; however I am most displeased that you decided to bring him along today as well. Anyways, now on with the talks." Mei said. "Yes, now for this alliance to work…" Tsunade started but was cut short by the Mei.

"I'm sorry, but did you say alliance Hokage-dono? As far as I understood we were going to discuss a treaty and not an alliance." Mei said with a clearly confused expression.

"I apologize, Mizukage-dono. I just thought it would be in both of our best interests to be allies." Tsunade replied. The ANBU guard in the corner of the room snorted in amusement, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Mei.

"Is there something I should know of?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow. Mei took a long deep breath. "You see Hokage-dono, when I went to your predecessor for help to the rebel forces your council turned us down.

The people of kiri was somewhat hurt by this and their faith in you faded and they no longer trust you as Konoha seems to be ruled by the council and not the kage as it should be. If kiri allied with Konoha right now while the people still have distrust in you it would cause another civil war." Mei explained.

"So you see a treaty would be a step in the right direction, however an alliance would be a step to far." The red head finished. "I see…" Tsunade said while rubbing her forehead in thought.

"We are, however, interested in a trade agreement since it would strengthen our economy." The Mizukage added as she felt it was necessary.

"Well, let's start with that then." Tsunade said with a smile. "Well, since you initiated these talks I think it would only be fair for you to start Hokage-dono." Mei said.

"We know that a lot of the islands under Mizu no Kuni's possession contain medical herbs that can only be found on those islands. We would like a steady supply of them until this treaty ends." Tsunade began.

Mei leaned back in her chair with a thoughtful expression on her face. "In exchange we want scrolls with medical techniques and treatment methods. Konoha is known for their well-trained medics after all." Mei countered which made both Tsunade and Tenten beam with pride.

"Not possible." Danzo said shocking everyone in the room. "Danzo, what are you talking about?" Tsunade shouted. "As a representative of the council I have the right to deny anything that I deem will not profit Konoha." Danzo stated as if it was a fact.

Tsunade frowned and sighed before she turned back to Mei. "Is there anything else you want in exchange?" She asked. "I am sorry, but I can't think of anything that would be a fair deal." The Mizukage said with an apologizing tone.

Tsunade sighed again before she turned back to Danzo. "We need those medical herbs Danzo. Can you think of anything to offer the Mizukage?" She asked with a spiteful tone.

Danzo thought long and hard about this before he answered. "I suppose we could hand over one medical jutsu." He stated in a thoughtful tone.

"Not possible. Some of the herbs that grow on these islands are very rare and hard to get. One medical jutsu will not be enough." The red head stated in a tone that left no room for discussion.

"I see… Danzo, leave the room. This is a discussion between two kage and you as a council man have no authority here." Tsunade stated. "You have no right…" Danzo started, but was cut off.

"No you have no right. I am still the Hokage and I order you to return to the hotel." The blond kage said. Danzo clenched his fists, but did as he was told.

"The council will hear about this, Tsunade." He said before he was escorted out of the room.

"Was that really wise, Hokage-dono? If your council has as much power as I have been told then that may have been an unwise move on your part." Mei stated with genuine concern.

Tsunade however just snorted at this and waved her off. "Oh please, what are they going to do to me? Remove me from the job I no longer desire to have? They would actually be doing me a great cervice." The Hokage said with a smile.

The legendary medic then leaned forward with a gleam in her eyes. "Now about those medical herbs…"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"You drive a hard bargain, Hokage-dono." Mei said as she eyed the treaty that was displayed on her desk. The only thing that was needed now was the signatures of the two kage.

The treaty would then be sent to both daimyo's for approval before it would be made official. "I could tell you the same, but I am glad that we came to an agreement." Tsunade replied with a pleased look on her face.

The two kage's signed the treaty and Mei handed it to one of her ANBU. "I will send a copy of it to each of our daimyos. You may stay in the village until we get a response." She said with a smile.

"I am afraid that my councilman will probably disagree with you so we will leave later today." Tsunade said. Mei frowned, but nodded none the less. "I see… well it was a pleasure meeting you, Hokage-dono." Mei said as she stretched out her hand.

"Likewise Mizukage-dono." Tsunade said as they shook hands.

When Tsunade and her guards left the room an ANBU appeared next to the Mizukage. "We trailed Danzo as you asked and we saw him send out a messenger bird." The ANBU stated.

"Did you intercept it?" The red head asked. The ANBU nodded and handed her a paper which she read over quickly. Her eye narrowed as she read the words.

"That old senile man saw through my lie… send a warning to Hayato Yamada in Yu no Kuni. Tell him the foundation is mobilizing." Mei said. The ANBU nodded and disappeared in a swirl of water leaving the Mizukage to her thoughts.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Tenten had a defeated look on her face when they exited Kirigakure. She had really believed that she would find him this time.

Tsunade noticed her students crestfallen look and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up Tenten. We will find him." She told her student reassuringly.

Tenten nodded and forced a smile to appear on her face, although on the inside she was starting to doubt it.

Kakashi was not having a better day. It looked like he was reading his book, but in reality he was thinking. He had been looking forward to seeing his student again and was disappointed.

He still could remember the day Yamada left. He had locked himself up in his apartment after that and now he was thinking about doing it again. _'Why am I such a failure?'_ He thought.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two days later_

As Yamada stepped ashore in Yu no Kuni he stretched his back. Two days at sea without a decent bed and no training. It was horrible to say the least.

Of course he had done his best to speed up the trip. Every now and then he had used a weak futon jutsu to push more wind into the sails; however it still took them two days.

He had also started regretting only taking Misaki and Naruto with him. He felt like he was going to go insane if he spent every day in their company.

That's the biggest reason he was happy to be ashore. While he was discussing a possible alliance with the daimyo, Naruto and Misaki would be doing their own things.

They would, however, be restrained to the city borders.

As they started their walk towards the capital Yamada slipped back into his thoughts again.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a hawk. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw the hawk sitting on a branch in a tree.

He stretched out his arm and the big bird landed on it. Yamada noticed the small metal container strapped to its leg. He carefully opened it and read the message inside after the hawk flew off.

_The foundation is mobilizing_

His eyes immediately narrowed after he read the message. _'Danzo…'_ He thought with a hint of disgust. He still remembered the day the council man had approached him to offer a spot in his organization.

_Flashback_

_Yamada was having a pretty normal day in Konoha. He had no missions for the day and was done with his training._

_Right now he was sitting in his apartment relaxing and reading a scroll on sealing. He heard someone knock on his door and he tilted his head in confusion._

_Yamato, Tenten, Naruto and Kakashi were all on missions and he didn't really have any contact with any of the others from his age group. Unless it was the Hokage Yamada had no clue on who else it could be._

_As he opened the door a small frown appeared on his face as he saw Danzo standing on the other side of the door. Hiruzen had already warned him about the man several times and he was not going to take the warning lightly._

"_Hayato-san, do you have a minute?" Danzo asked politely. Yamada nodded before he stepped aside and let the man walk into his apartment._

_As they got situated in the living room Danzo decided to start a conversation. "This is a lovely apartment, Hayato-san." He commented with something that could be considered a smile._

"_Thank you; however I don't believe a second that you only came here to Smalltalk." Yamada responded calmly as he took a sip of his tea._

"_You are not mistaken, Hayato-san. You see I run an organization that is called ROOT or the foundation. We operate in the shadows and do what is necessary for the protection of Konoha. I have seen your talent as shinobi and would like you to join my ranks." Danzo said with a completely neutral expression._

"_Can you give me an example?" Yamada asked. Not that he was considering it, however he was curious._

"_For example if there is a rouge shinobi who pose a great threat to the village I will send out a squad to take them down without mercy. Of course you will get special training if you decide to join." Danzo replied._

'_Yeah, I will be trained to be an emotionless freak…' Yamada thought in disgust. He had met a couple of ROOT operatives before and they showed no sign of emotion at all._

"_Well, I am sorry to inform you that I have no interest in joining your ROOT. Now if you will please leave, I have something I have to take care of." Yamada replied._

_Danzo nodded and stood up to leave. Before he left though he turned back to say some final words. "I really hope you do reconsider as time pass."_

'_I will make you reconsider' was the hidden meaning behind those words._

_Flashback end_

After that Yamada had received gifts of all kinds from Danzo in hope of him changing his mind. He had even tried to send one of his female shinobi to try and seduce him.

However the old war hawk had failed in every attempt he made, but he never gave up either.

"Hey Yamada, what did the note say?" Naruto asked as he looked at Yamada quizzically. Yamada crumpled the note before he turned to the blonde with a smile.

"Nothing important, let's get up the tempo." Yamada said before he jumped up into a nearby tree and continued towards the capital.

"Hey, wait for us!" Naruto shouted before he jumped after him. "Yeah, no fair! You got a head start!" Misaki angrily shouted before she also took to the trees.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

As they approached the daimyo's palace, Yamada could do nothing but smile at the good condition the capital was in now. It was definitively an improvement from how sad and depressing it was before.

As they approached the palace, Yamada decided it was a good idea if he removed his hood and mask. It wouldn't make a good first impression to intimidate the daimyo.

As he reached the doors to the gigantic palace he was stopped by the two guards. "Do not walk closer or we will take it as an act of aggression." One of them shouted while he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Guard stand down! The kid is with me." Yamada heard behind him. He turned and saw someone he hadn't seen in a long time. The black haired woman in front of him sent him a warm smile which he returned.

"It's good to see you again, Chiharu." Yamada said as he walked towards the woman. "Likewise Yamada." Chiharu replied as the two shook hands.

Naruto looked first at Yamada and then at Chiharu, then back at Yamada again before he looked at Chiharu again. "You too know each other?" The blond half shouted with an accusing finger pointed at Yamada.

"Yes we do, however it is a long story and I don't really feel like telling you." Yamada said. Naruto huffed and turned away with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I can tell you, onii-san!" Misaki shouted at Naruto. "Ok then the two of you can go back to the hotel before you tell him the story while I talk to Chiharu here." Yamada said.

The two disappeared almost immediately after that and Yamada sighed. "I swear it feels like I am babysitting them." He commented before he turned back to the black haired woman.

"So what brings you here kid? I won't believe you if you say it's just a normal visit." She said as they walked into the palace. "Well, you are right. I am actually her on behalf of the Mizukage. She wants to form an alliance with Yu no Kuni and I am here as her diplomat." Yamada explained.

Chiharu rubbed her chin before she spoke. "I see, well the daimyo isn't doing anything at the moment so you can probably meet him right away." She said with a smile. "That would be great." Yamada responded.

"So what have you been up to the last three years?" Yamada asked as they started their walk towards the daimyo's office. "I have been busy organizing the new military force of Yu no Kuni. Recruitment is going very slowly, but we are making progress." The black haired woman answered.

"Hmm… well, if everything turns out ok, then you might get a little help with that." Yamada said with a smirk. Chiharu sent him a confused look, but didn't get to question him as they reached the daimyo's office.

"I will tell him you're here. Just wait here." The black haired woman said before she disappeared through the doors. A few seconds later Yamada was called in as well.

"It is good to see you again, daimyo-sama." Yamada said as he bowed. "Please, no formalities are needed Yamada-kun. You are a friend and a savior of the country." Fujiwara said with a grandfather like smile.

"If you insist Fujiwara-san." Yamada replied as he returned the smile. "Now, I understand that Kiri wants Yu no Kuni as allies?" the old man asked as he turned serious.

Yamada nodded and turned serious himself. "Yes Fujiwara-san." Yamada said before he pulled out a document from his jonin vest. "I have already prepared for this and drawn up a document that only needs your approval before I send it to the Mizukage and the water daimyo for approval." He said as he placed the document in front of the daimyo.

Fujiwara picked up the document and started to thoroughly read through the words that were written.

_Alliance_

_Kirigakure no Sato & Yu no Kuni_

_Kiri will set up a shinobi academy in Yu no Kuni's capital to help train future warriors. After three years of training the students will get the choice of going to Kirigakure for further training or to stay and protect their nation. Shall they choose to go to Kiri they will get the choice of staying in Kiri or return to Yu no Kuni when their training is complete._

_Kiri will also offer protection from any other nation should the threat arise and a trade agreement. In return all that is demanded is a yearly payment from Yu no Kuni to Kirigakure._

_The alliance will be called off should any of the conditions above be violated._

Fujiwara read through the document a second time before he placed it back down and looked at Yamada. "This is very well thought through, Yamada. However this yearly payment is the only thing concerning me." The aged man said.

"It will only be enough to cover the expenses of the academy that will be set up. It will probably be around 500 000 ryo a year. Do consider that this includes protection from any other nation." Yamada said.

The daimyo closed his eyes as he thought over the offer. A few minutes passed before he finally opened them again and had a friendly smile on his face.

"It is said that an alliance with the mighty is never to be trusted… however it does sound reasonable. I will put my trust in you and sign the alliance. I only hope the Mizukage will accept it." He said as he signed the document. Yamada nodded and stuffed the document inside his vest.

"I will send it to the Mizukage immediately." Yamada said before he bowed and exited the office. Once he was outside the building he bit his thumb and went through handseals and thrust his palm into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted and a puff of smoke appeared before a miniature dragon appeared in front of him. **"What is it you want of me, Yamada-sama?"** The small dragon asked in a surprisingly deep voice.

"I need you to take this to the Mizukage and then take it back here." Yamada said as he pulled out the document. **"What? Yamada-sama, dragons are honorable creatures and I will not lower myself to be your messenger." **The dragon said in protest.

"Just do it, I will get you some coal if you do." Yamada said. The dragon seemed to look pleased after those words left Yamada's lips. For some reason coal was what ramen was for Naruto.

"**Very well, I will deliver your message."** The dragon said before it flew off towards the land of water. Yamada just shook his head before he headed back to the hotel.

When he arrived he asked the two others to come with him. When they asked why he told them they were going to train.

They arrived minutes later in a nearby forest. Yamada turned to the two Jinchuuriki. "I will start with Naruto today and then I will show Misaki what she is going to do."

"Aw, come on! Train me first!" Misaki shouted. "You jealous?" Naruto asked in a teasing tone. "Shut it both of you or I won't train you at all." Yamada said and the two immediately shut up.

"Like I said; Naruto first." "What am I going to practice, Yamada?" Naruto asked with excitement. "I am going to teach you a wind jutsu since you have mastered wind manipulation. You are good with the Rasengan; however you should not be a one trick pony as they call it."

He then led Naruto a little bit away before they started.

"The jutsu I am going to teach you is Fūton: daitoppa. It's a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user." Yamada explained.

He then preformed some handseals. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" he shouted and a gust of wind shot into a nearby tree and straight through it. Naruto was amazed and jumped around eagerly.

Yamada then told Naruto how to concentrate his chakra and how to perform the technique before he walked back to Misaki to let the blond practice in peace.

"Ok Misaki, do you know which affinity you have?" Yamada asked as he looked down at the red head. "The horse-thingy inside of me said I have something called Futton." The girl exclaimed with excitement.

'_So that's what the five tails have granted her… this might prove beneficial for both of us.' _Yamada thought with a smile.

"Well before you learn Futton, you will have to learn Katon and Suiton first." Yamada explained. "Why? I want to learn it now." Misaki said with a cute pout.

"Well you see the Futton is a Kekkei Genkai. Kekkei Genkai, or bloodline limits, is abilities passed down genetically within specific clans or in your case granted by the five-tails. Kekkei Genkai abilities that work via the user's eye are called dōjutsu.

Other Kekkei Genkai includes mixing one type of elemental chakra with another which is what you have. However to do this you will have to learn the two elements which the bloodline consists off." Yamada explained.

"Ok I understand." The ten year old girl answered. _'Only ten years old and she still understand more than Naruto does.'_ Yamada thought in amusement.

"Ok first I will teach you fire release. Fire release is one of the basic elemental nature transformations. It is performed by molding superheated chakra inside your stomach before releasing it via the lungs and mouth." Yamada said. He looked at Misaki to check if she understood everything so far before he continued.

"I will be teaching you a basic fire jutsu first ok?" Yamada asked and Misaki nodded eagerly.

"Ok, the jutsu I will teach you is named Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu.

To perform the technique you need to knead chakra inside your body and convert it into fire. Then release it via the mouth. Remember, you are trying to make a big fireball ok?" Yamada said.

He then demonstrated the technique before he left the girl to practice alone. He walked a distance away. He walked far enough so that he couldn't see the other two anymore.

He then sat down in the lotus position and took a deep calming breath. He then closed his eyes to try and meditate for a few hours.

However he was quickly disturbed as he heard the sound of something slicing the air and it was headed towards him. Something sharp penetrated his shoulder and he was thrown back onto his back.

"I think I killed the boy… oh well." A woman with light blue hair said as she stepped into the clearing. "Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that." Came a voice from behind her.

She quickly spun around to see her target sitting on a branch in a tree not far from where she was standing. She looked back at the body in the clearing and cursed under her breath.

"Kawarimi, smart boy." She stated as she turned back to the boy. "Those crystals… I have seen those before." Yamada muttered while he rubbed his chin. He had already covered his face with the mask and the hood was also in place.

He then heard a small chuckle from the woman. "You mean you don't remember? Let me give you a reminder." She said in a mocking tone.

She then started going through handseals. "Shōton: Suishō Tō!" She said before a blade made of crystal formed on her arm.

Yamada's eyes widened in realization. He had seen that blade being used before. It was about 11 years ago under a certain slaughter.

"So you were that girl eleven years ago? You helped to kill off my clan? Guren if I remember right." Yamada asked in a calm tone, but on the inside he was in a rage.

"Yep that was me and do you want to know a little secret? I enjoyed every second of it." Guren taunted with a smirk on her face. It was then that Naruto and Misaki finally had noticed what was going on and came running.

Yamada's head hung low which made Guren's smirk widen. Everyone waited in silence as to what would happen next. Naruto and Misaki had taken up defensive positions and Guren was just standing there.

"For those words alone… I will kill you." Yamada said which shocked Naruto and Misaki. "Hah, try it brat." Guren taunted.

Yamada looked up and locked eyes with Guren who suddenly became nervous when she stared straight into the three tomoes of the fully matured sharingan.

'_So the kid's got himself a sharingan, eh. This will certainly be interesting.'_ She thought before she charged forward.

Naruto was about to intercept, but Yamada appeared in front of him with his sword already drawn and blocked the crystal blade. "Naruto, you will step back and watch. The same goes for you Misaki. I don't want any of you to help." Yamada said in a tone that left no room for discussion.

"But I want to help! I don't let my friends down!" Naruto shouted in defiance. "Then don't let me down by staying out of it! This is personal." Yamada said which silenced Naruto. His words had just been twisted against him.

Yamada then pushed Guren back before he flipped the blade into a reversed grip while he pulled out his katana with the other hand and did the same.

This time it was Yamada who charged with a vertical cut towards Guren's stomach. It was easily blocked, but when she pushed his sword away he spun around and did a stabbing motion with the katana.

The blue haired woman jumped back in the last second and landed a few meters away. "Shōton: Shuriken Ranbu!" She said as hundreds of crystal shuriken towards Yamada.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" Yamada said without even dropping his swords and the earth wall rose between them and blocked the shuriken. _'No handseals?!'_ Guren thought in shock.

It did not stop her in taking advantage of the situation, however, and jumped over the wall and swung her arm at the expecting opponent.

Her blades cut deep into Yamada who was not prepared for it. She was however disappointed when her target disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Interesting strategy… mind if I use it sometime?" Yamada asked in a mocking tone from a nearby three. "How did you do that?" Guren demanded.

"A ninja has his secrets." Yamada replied in an amused tone. This only helped in making the blue haired woman angry. "Now it's my turn." Yamada said before he went through handseals at an incredible speed.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!" He shouted before he exhaled a huge amount of fire through his mask which took the shape of a dragon. The dragon went straight at Guren with the intent to burn her alive.

Guren however merely stretched out her arm. Naruto, Misaki and Yamada all thought she was insane. However, when the fire made contact with her hand, it turned into a crystal dragon.

'_So she can make fire into crystal? Does that count for every element?'_ Yamada pondered with curiosity as his interest for this bloodline grew with every second.

Guren then climbed up onto the dragon's neck while she had a boisterous smirk on her face.

"Why are you even attacking us?" Yamada asked while there still was a break in the battle. "Isn't it obvious? Orochimaru-sama wants your body as his next! However, it would be a shame if I killed you by accident." Guren said before she chuckled.

"Why do you even work for that hebi? If I killed you now, he probably wouldn't care!" Yamada shouted. "You are probably right; however I was supposed to be his body. Then someone else showed up so I figured if I die before I have the opportunity to be his body then I will die as his tool!" Guren shouted before the big crystal dragon launched towards Yamada.

Yamada simply flipped over the dragon and swung his sword which was easily blocked by Guren's own crystal blade.

"You know, I knew someone that thought like that before." Yamada said as he landed on the ground just in time to block the crystal shuriken that was headed for his head.

_Flashback_

"_And that's how I ended up with Zabuza-sama. I am his tool and he is to use me as he see fit." Haku finished her story._

_Yamada didn't know why, if it was the fact that she was basically crying or her traumatic life he didn't know. He stepped up and hugged her, surprising her and him. They had so different stories and yet they were so similar._

_Yamada pulled away from the girl and looked into her still teary eyes. He had to fight off his own urge to cry by just looking at her._

"_Your story is not too different from mine. I was also rescued by someone and grew very close to him. He is like my brother now and I am not going to question your way of living, but I am going to ask you this. Do you think this is what your mother would have wanted for you? Do you think she would have wanted you to be an emotionless killer? Think about that until next time we meet, please." Yamada said before he walked off towards were Naruto was._

_Flashback end_

"But you know what? She changed and now she is one of my closest friends." Yamada continued. He then put away his sword and katana. "I am sure you could change as well if you were given the time… however… you won't have time." He finished before doing handseals at an alarming speed.

"Futon: idai na raion!" He said as the wind started picking up around him. The wind became so violent that the other three had to use chakra to stay on the ground.

The wind was blowing so fast that it was visible and after a while it took the shape of a lion. It then went full force towards Guren who ordered her crystal dragon to charge against the lion.

The two jutsu collided and started battling for dominance. Wind picked up all over the place and the lion was starting to push back the dragon.

This continued for a little while and the wind picked up more for every second until it was dangerous to be anywhere nearby. Then the crystal dragon shattered into a million pieces.

The lion then proceeded to engulf Guren, giving her hundreds of cuts all over her body and beating her against a couple of trees. The wind suddenly died down and Guren hit the ground with a thump.

Yamada walked up to the unconscious woman only to see her turning into shards and disappearing in the breeze. _'A clone… she must have swapped with it when the jutsu's where battling.'_ Yamada thought in surprise.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the spinning orb into Guren who was just about to cut off Yamada's head. _'Dam it, how did I not sense her?'_ Yamada thought in frustration.

Naruto was about to charge again, that is until several tree roots shot out of the ground and bound Guren against another tree. Naruto gulped before he slowly turned to a very pissed Yamada.

Yamada started walking slowly towards Naruto with his sharingan spinning. "You disobeyed my orders… I have the right to kill you for that alone." Yamada said in a dangerous tone.

Naruto recognized this side of Yamada. This was not the Yamada who had just started a journey and was happy. No, this Yamada was the one they had met in the war. The ruthless killer and commander who did not take disobedience lightly.

Yamada didn't stop walking until he was face to face with Naruto. "However, since you are important to the village and you're my friend, I will let you live." Yamada said as his sharingan faded.

"Go back to the inn, both of you." He said with a tired sigh before he turned to their unconscious gest. As soon as both was out of view, Yamada begun to gather information from the woman as well as some… techniques.

'_So that's where that snake is hiding…'_ Yamada thought with a smirk as he received the information. _'She has been through some shit, that's for sure. However, she will be too dangerous to keep alive because she will just come after us again.'_ Yamada thought.

He pulled out a kunai and was about to slit her throat, but stopped as he saw her waking up again. "Welcome back to the land of the living, sleeping beauty." Yamada said with some amusement in his voice.

"What happened?" Guren asked. She clearly did not remember where she was. "My friend intercepted you despite my orders." Yamada answered bitterly.

Guren's eyes widened when she remembered where she was and of the fact that she had a kunai against her throat. Her eyes then hardened and she looked at Yamada.

"So what are you going to do now? Rape me or kill me?" Guren asked. For the longest of time Yamada stood there thinking over his options. Was killing her really the best option?

After a long time he finally came to a conclusion. "I am going to…"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Now I have a question for you guys. What was the best thing you got for Christmas? I got GTA5! It will probably consume my life and I will forget to write chapters though… just kidding!

Anyways, don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	4. Chapter 3: Behind Enemy Lines

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

**AN:** I am not sure, but I think I need to up the rating if I continue like I did in this chapter… anyways, happy new year!

Reviews:

Jack (Guest):

It makes me glad that you say that. :)

Jack (Guest) review II:

Nothing to be sorry for! Not many people do read the reviews and I didn't expect you to know anyways so it's ok. :)

Guest:

I don't know… will she? (Evil laugh)

But seriously, you sound very frustrated… am I the cause of that?

milpld:

Oh… well, I hope I answered some of your questions at least. As for the other question you will just have to wait and see.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"_So what are you going to do now? Rape me or kill me?" Guren asked. For the longest of time Yamada stood there thinking over his options. Was killing her really the best option?_

_After a long time he finally came to a conclusion. _

"I am going to…" Before he could finish his sentence he felt an immense pain all over his body. He fell to his knees and tried to suppress the scream of pain that was escaping from his throat.

The pain felt like it lasted forever until it finally ended. He was breathing heavily while being on his knees while clutching his stomach trying to catch his breath. He suddenly felt something against his throat and cursed himself for forgetting about his hostage.

"I don't know what just happened, but it seems it worked out pretty well in my favor." Guren said with a smirk as she pressed the crystal blade harder against his throat. A small trickle of blood was drawn from the crystal.

"Now you are going to be a good little boy and come with me to Orochimaru-sama or else this gets nasty, understood?" The blue haired woman asked.

Yamada found himself once again thinking through his options, not that he had any. He inwardly cursed himself again for using his Kekkei Genkai.

"Yeah… you just wish it was that easy." Yamada said before a root shot out of the tree behind her. She had no chance of reacting and the root hit her, sending her flying many meters away.

Yamada got to his feet. _'I need to end this quickly. My chakra is all fucked up after what just happened. I am lucky I even managed to make that happen.' _ He thought as his hand began to sparkle with lightning chakra.

The electricity shot out of his hand and formed a snake which went at amazing speed along the ground towards Guren. It was basically the same jutsu Kakashi had taught him. Yamada had just modified it a little so instead of a lightning hound it was a snake.

Guren hastily dodged to the side and noticed something from the corner of her eye. She quickly spun around and slashed her crystal blade against Yamada's lightning infused katana and they met midair.

The crystal shattered and the katana sliced through her arm like it was butter. Guren let out a scream of agony as she clutched what was left of her arm while blood was pooling out of it.

Yamada flicked his katana to get rid of the blood on it before he looked at Guren with an impassive look. He had seen things like this before. In the bloodline war he had seen stuff like that all the time and as time went by he had stopped caring.

It didn't matter to him if the enemy was wounded. Victory was all that mattered in a war. He had learned that the hard way.

However, he wasn't in a war now so he sheathed his katana and walked towards the blue haired woman who backed away from him in a last ditch attempt. In one quick motion he was in front of her and grabbed her arm.

She tried to move away, but stopped when she saw the faint green glow that could only be registered as medical ninjutsu. "Y-y-you know… medical ninj-ninjutsu?" She asked.

"I only know the basics, but I might be able to stop your bleeding temporarily." Yamada said as he started to work on her arm. "Why the heck are you helping me anyways." Guren asked with venom in her voice.

"If you continue to talk to me like that then I'm not going to help you." Yamada said. "And as for why; you could be useful for my village." He finished.

"Like I would ever join your village." Guren spat, but kept her mouth shut when Yamada looked up at her with his Mangekyō sharingan active. "Who said you have a choice." He said coldly and Guren gulped.

He finished up with her arm and wrapped it in bandages. He then walked a couple of steps away and did three handseals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He said and a dragon at the size of a horse with blue scales appeared in front of him.

"**What do you request of me, Yamada-sama?" **The summon asked curiously. "I want you to transport this prisoner back to Kirigakure and directly to the Mizukage." Yamada replied as he pointed at Guren.

The large creature turned its head in the direction he pointed before he turned back. **"It shall be done."** The dragon said with a bow. "Thanks Kalurth." Yamada said as he petted the dragons head before he turned back to Guren.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Guren. Either you walk up her and sit down on top of the dragon without objections or you could be stubborn and I let Kalurth here fry your ass. So what's it going to be?" Yamada asked.

It was pretty obvious that he was not in a good mood. Guren grumbled something about a fucked up kiri ninja, but did as he asked reluctantly.

Yamada wrote a small note and bound it around the dragon's neck. "Give this to the Mizukage when you find her." The dragon nodded before it flapped its wings and took off at full speed. Yamada found Guren's surprised scream quite amusing.

As he made his way back towards the inn, Yamada thought about the new information he had just acquired. From Guren he had gotten the exact location of Orochimaru's base.

It wasn't quite far actually. It was actually in the neighboring country called the land of rice fields. This fit Yamada perfectly; he would be able to get his family's summoning contract back.

He knew he couldn't go toe to toe with Orochimaru so he would have to be sneaky about it. However, what he was going to do with Misaki and Naruto was another problem.

He couldn't take them with him into Orochimaru's base. Both of them where simply too loud and since this would be a d-tour it would put a dent in his traveling plan. He had to think up something that would keep them occupied in the meantime.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Mizukage-sama, a messenger… animal arrived for you." Said a chunin as he entered the Mizukage's office. Mei raised an eyebrow at this.

"Animal?" She asked. "It's better if you see it yourself." The chunin said. Mei nodded and followed him out of her office. Her eyes widened when she saw a miniature dragon at the size of a hawk sitting there and waiting for her.

When the dragon noticed her it bowed its head. **"Mizukage-sama, I bring a message from Yamada-sama."** The dragon said and realization dawned upon Mei.

'_You impress me no matter what Yamada-kun.'_ She thought with a small smile. The red head walked forward and untied the message from the dragon's neck. No sooner had she done that did the dragon disappear in a puff of smoke.

She removed the scroll from its metal container and unraveled it. "You work fast Yamada-kun, I will give you that." Mei muttered to herself as she looked over the treaty that was drawn up.

The treaty was flawless at many points and could work out very well if they got the daimyo of Mizu no Kuni's approval. She quickly signed the document and handed it over to another chunin.

"Make a copy of it and send it to the daimyo immediately." She ordered. The chunin saluted her before he ran off to do his task. Mei headed back to her office with her ever present smile.

'_You will truly be a profit for Kirigakure Yamada-kun.'_

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"What are we going to do then?" Naruto asked. Yamada had just explained where he would be going. He knew that if Naruto or Misaki knew where he was really going then they would demand to come with him so he had made up a story.

"I am sending the two of you to Nami no Kuni. You will have to go through Hi no Kuni, but you should be fine." Yamada said as he pulled out a scroll.

"Give this to the leader of wave when you arrive. You have direct orders to stay there until I arrive." Yamada said. Misaki and Naruto nodded their heads. "So when are we going?" Misaki asked curiously.

"We are leaving as soon as the treaty is signed by Mizu no Kuni's daimyo." Yamada responded. "However before we split up there is something I need from you Naruto." Yamada said.

"Huh, what is it?" Naruto asked curiously. "I need some of your blood." Yamada said. "What? Why do you want my blood?!" Naruto shouted with a comical expression.

"Because there is something I want to test and I need your blood for it." Yamada explained as simply as possible. "But what? You got to give me more than that." Naruto exclaimed.

"Look, if it works I will tell you all about it ok?" Yamada asked as he was getting annoyed. "Fine." Naruto huffed. Yamada drained the blood using a simple medical method with a needle, a tube and a vial.

"There all done. For now the two of you will go out and train. I need to meditate." Yamada said as he sealed away the blood within a sealing scroll. Misaki and Naruto lit up like Christmas trees before they stormed out of the inn, eager to train their butts off.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Another dragon has arrived, Mizukage-sama." An ANBU said as he appeared in Mei's office. Mei nodded and walked out only to find a horse sized dragon with someone on its back.

"And who might you be?" Mei asked with a raised eyebrow. "Does it concern you?" The woman asked with venom in her voice.

"As a matter of fact it does. You see, I am the Mizukage and you are in Kirigakure." Mei said. Guren's eyes widened for a second before she schooled her features again.

'_So the brat wasn't lying…'_ She thought somewhat bitterly. Mei got tired of waiting for a response and decided to read the scroll that was tied around the dragon's neck.

As she read she could feel a migraine coming up. "Take her to the hospital for treatment of her arm and post two ANBU to guard her at all times." Mei said and walked off again.

'_This plan of yours better work, Yamada.'_

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two days later_

On the outside, Konoha seemed like a peaceful place. However, behind closed doors in the Hokage tower it was far from peaceful.

The council members were in an outrage of the deal their Hokage had made with the Mizukage. "Tsunade, what were you thinking?" Homura shouted in rage.

"I was thinking about the wellbeing of the village. We had no imports of medical herbs and we are beginning to run low on supplies." Tsunade explained.

"But still, to offer up so many medical techniques without the councils consent is outrageous! Be careful or you might lose your job!" Homura continued.

"Great! Do it please? Remove me from this work of misery and show me who you are going to replace me with. I am really excited to meet my successor." Tsunade said in a happy tone.

The council was silenced after those words. The truth was that they didn't have anyone to replace her with. They could use Danzo, but none of them trusted him completely.

Kakashi was next in line, but he wasn't easy to control like their current kage was. They were left with no options.

"You win this time, Tsunade." Koharu said somewhat reluctantly. "Great, now if you will excuse me; I have a student to see to." Tsunade said as she got up and exited the room.

She arrived back at the Hokage-mansion and was met with a very depressed looking Tenten looking out her window over the village. In her arms was a two year old baby sound asleep.

"How are you holding up?" Tsunade asked as she walked into the room. "I'm fine, just a little disappointed I guess." Tenten responded, however this was not how she was feeling at all.

She was hugely disappointed and was on the verge of giving up. What was the point? Every lead led to a dead end anyways.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'm sure we will find him one day." Tsunade reassured her student.

Tenten got up and placed the baby in its crib. "I'm not so sure anymore." Tenten said before she walked out of the room. Tsunade sighed heavily.

She was failing her student.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada was calmly breathing as he sat in the lotus position on the ground with his eyes closed. When he was meditating he could hear everything so clearly. He could hear and feel almost everything.

He could even hear his own heartbeat. To his left he could hear the small feet of a squirrel. He could hear the wind blowing through the trees. He could feel every little movement in the ground and the wind hitting his face.

It was a fantastic feeling which he never wanted to end. However, he forced himself to open his eyes when he heard the claws of a bird hit a tree.

He looked up to see a hawk with a scroll tied to its foot. _'So they've finally signed it.' _He thought before he got up and stretched out his arm. The bird landed on his arm and waited for him to take the scroll before it flew off again.

"Now let's deliver this to the daimyo and then we can head out." He mumbled to himself before he took off through the trees.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Sure you don't want us to come with you?" Misaki asked with concern. "Hey! Don't worry, Yamada is strong! He won't have any problems!" Naruto cheered.

'_I only hope you're right, Naruto…'_ Yamada thought, but on the outside he was smiling. "Naruto is right Misaki, I'll be fine. It's not like I am going to do something dangerous anyways." Yamada lied as he ruffled her hair.

Misaki pouted, but nodded none the less and gave Yamada a hug. She and Naruto then started walking along the road that led towards Hi no Kuni.

Yamada watched them go for a couple of minutes before he ran in his own direction towards the land of rice fields.

He could only hope that things would go as smoothly as he had planned.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Any word from Guren?"

"No Orochimaru-sama, not since she left." Kabuto answered. They were currently walking through the halls of the underground base.

Orochimaru smiled wickedly to himself. _'If the boy is strong enough to defeat Guren, then he is truly a prodigy.'_ He thought as an evil chuckle escaped his throat.

"What is it, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked curiously. "If my assumptions are correct, then we might have a visitor soon." The snake sanin said and Kabuto nodded in understanding.

They then disappeared through a nearby door. Silence was heard throughout the hall until a nearby sigh stopped the silence. Yamada then jumped down from the roof and landed soundlessly.

'_So now they are expecting me to be here… great!' _Yamada shouted in his head. He had arrived only minutes ago and basically made his way inside by using Doton jutsus.

He started walking down the long creepy hallway again while keeping his guard up still. Even if no one knew he was there he could still be noticed.

As he walked he tried to think of where Orochimaru would hide a summoning contract. Hopefully the snake sanin did not keep it with him wherever he went or else it would be hard to get it back.

He started checking room after room quickly, running from door to door. It was way too silent in the long hallways for Yamada's liking.

It felt like something was off yet he could not think of what. He kept checking room after room not finding anything interesting in particular, that is until he arrived at a peculiar room.

It was a laboratory and a big one. It was decked out with basic medical equipment and more equipment he didn't recognize. However there was an unnerving feeling about the place.

Corpses where on medical benches everywhere and it was giving Yamada the creeps.

Who knew what Orochimaru did down here? He quickly searched through the stuff in the room. He searched the room from top to bottom, but didn't find anything interesting.

He was about to leave when a scroll caught his attention. He picked it up and opened it. "Edo Tensei eh…." He mumbled to himself as he read through the contents of the scroll.

He had heard about the technique and some of the contents of the scroll he already knew, but there were some parts he found somewhat interesting.

He stuffed the scroll inside his vest and left the room to continue his search. He figured it would be best not to read the scroll inside the enemies' base.

He searched the long hallways for another hour or so and was beginning to get sick of looking. It was like the hallways never ended. _'Just how big is this place?'_ Yamada thought as he opened another door.

"Is this where the old snake sleeps?" Yamada asked himself as he opened one door and found a king sized bed. He shivered slightly just at the thought of it as he walked inside the room.

There were all sorts of creepy stuff in the room; however there was one thing that caught his attention. It was a big scroll at the side of the bed. It was clearly a summoning scroll that was for sure.

He walked up and sighed a breath of relief when it said snake on the scroll. "I'm sure he won't miss it." Yamada said with a smirk as he picked up the scroll and sealed it away in a smaller sealing scroll.

"You are wrong. I will miss that contract." Orochimaru said from behind Yamada. Yamada swallowed the lump that suddenly had formed in his throat and turned around to see the snake sanin with his assistant.

One look was enough to deduce that Orochimaru was not fit for battle. He was couching violently and was barely able to stand. "How nice of you to arrive, Yamada-kun. I really need a new body just about now." The sanin said with a wicked grin.

Yamada acted on instinct and immediately slammed his hands into the ground. "Doton: Doryūsō!" He shouted and earth spears shot out from the wall behind him towards the two on the other side of the room.

Kabuto grabbed his master and jumped to the side and the spears flew through the door opening. Yamada took this as his chance to get out and ran through the door.

"Kabuto, go after him." Orochimaru said between coughs. Kabuto looked at his master with worried eyes, but did as he told him anyways. He entered the hall and caught a glimpse of Yamada running down the hall towards the entrance. He quickly followed and soon ended up outside the base.

Yamada stood there facing him with his hood on and his sharingan spinning. "It's over Yamada-kun. I know all your tricks." Kabuto said trying to win this battle by words.

"You think I live in kiri without picking up certain tricks?" Yamada said as he did a handseal. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Yamada said as a thick chakra enhanced mist covered the area.

"Ah… you have practiced in the silent killing technique." Kabuto said as he pushed up his glasses. "I haven't practiced in it, I have mastered it." Yamada said. His voice sounded like it came from everywhere.

Mei had given him a couple of scrolls with ways to practice it three years ago. He only now understood why she had given them to him. She had planned it that early that he was going to be a part of the swordsmen of the mist.

Kabuto tried to listen carefully as if to find out where the Yamada was, but had no such luck. Suddenly there was the sound of metal meeting flesh and Kabuto fell over in pain.

He removed his hand from his stomach and could see his entire arm covered in his own blood. "You truly are a master of the silent killing… however; it is going to take more than that." Kabuto said as his hand started to glow green with healing chakra.

'_I totally forgot he was a medical ninja… oh well, I will just have to damage something that he won't be able to heal. It will also help them remember that I don't want anything to do with them.' _Yamada thought.

"So you know medical jutsu eh?" Yamada's voice echoed across the forest. "It would be a shame if I did something that can't be fixed by medical ninjutsu."

Yamada made another attempt at Kabuto, but the medic somehow blocked him with a kunai. _'Dam it, how did he hear me?'_ Yamada thought as he went back into hiding.

"Even mastering the silent killing won't be enough. Your speed isn't up to it." Kabuto said with a smirk. "So this is about speed eh? Well why didn't you just say so?" Yamada asked as he deactivated his gravity seal.

Kabuto's glasses where suddenly broken and a kunai was stuck in his eye before he could react. The kunai was not deep enough to kill him, but just deep enough to destroy the eye completely

A bloodcurdling scream was heard from Kabuto's mouth. "Let this be a warning to you." Yamada said as he twisted the kunai earning another scream from Kabuto.

His sharingan eyes were staring straight into Kabuto's only eye. "If you or your master comes after me again I will do ten times worse." Yamada said as he twisted the kunai one last time before he pulled it out.

The mist had already disappeared and soon Yamada as well as he was walking away. He stopped when he heard Kabuto chuckle.

"Orochimaru-sama will never stop coming after you, no matter what happens to me. He wants your bloodline limit and will never stop until he gets it. As for this eye, I will have my revenge one day Yamada-kun." Kabuto said with surprisingly calm.

Yamada just raised an eyebrow under his hood, but just kept on walking. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. This bloodline is more of a curse than a gift anyways." Yamada shouted over his shoulder, the last part was muttered lowly to himself.

Kabuto shakily got back to his feet and walked back into the base. "He got away, Orochimaru-sama." He said while clutching his eye.

"Disappointing, you are getting sloppy Kabuto." Orochimaru said. He then got a grin on his face. "Oh well, I still have Sasuke-kun."

Just then the door was opened to the bedroom and there stood Sasuke.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada was now jumping through the tree towards his second side trip. He was going to a place where he had been before way too much. He felt pretty neutral towards this place however.

He didn't fell hatred towards it like he did with Orochimaru. Some of the people there he was actually friends with once. However, that changed when he abandoned it.

Konohagakure no Sato, also known as the village hidden in the leaves. It was a beautiful place on the outside, but Yamada had seen what was on the inside.

Corruption, that was all there was to it, corruption and greed. In the horizon he could see the gates coming into view.

The reason he was doing this now was because Konoha would never expect kiri to betray them right after the treaty was signed. He knew that at least the Hokage was that naïve, however he didn't know about the council. Although it was a risk that was worth taking.

Sighing to himself, he slowed down and henged into a civilian. He knew the guards at the gate would test him, but if his theory was right then there wouldn't be a problem.

He slowly strolled up to the gates with a relaxed composure. "Halt, state your name and purpose of visiting the village." Hagane Kotetsu shouted, one of the two guards.

'_They are still doing guard duty after all these years.'_ Yamada thought in amusement. The two of them had been gate guards since Yamada lived in the village.

Kotetsu had long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes. He had a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and light-colored marking on his chin. He wore the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi complete with a hitai ate and a flak jacket.

His best friend, Kamizuki Izumo was also still a guard. Izumo had brown hair, and dark eyes. His hair was combed down and always covered his right eye. He wore his forehead protector like a bandanna along with the standard Konoha shinobi outfit which went all the way up to his chin, in a similar manner to Yamato's and a flak jacket.

Yamada got sad when he once again thought about Yamato, but quickly schooled his features. "I am a blacksmith from a nearby village. I am just here to look for supplies." Yamada lied.

He never liked lying, but he was in enemy territory now. "Ok, are you planning on staying long?" Izumo asked as he wrote down something on a clipboard.

"One day at the most." Yamada replied simply. "Ok, enjoy your stay in the village." Izumo said which shocked Yamada for a minute. They were going to let him in that easily?

He slowly walked away from the gate and looked back. _'They didn't ask for papers or perform a genjutsu test… these are way too comfortable in being viewed as the strongest village… it looks like it's time to show them they aren't invincible.'_ Yamada thought to himself with a small smirk.

As he walked along the streets he came over many familiar faces. Many of which he had worked with in the past. It was nice seeing them again, but he had to remind himself that he was undercover at the moment.

All of the people he met now were enemies. He couldn't talk with them since he didn't know them unless of course they talked to him.

As he walked down the street towards the Hokage's tower he noticed that something was missing. The shop Tenten's father owned was gone and in its place was now a restaurant.

He found this somewhat peculiar, but didn't question it as he was very close to his target. As he came into the street right in front of the Hokage tower he took a left turn towards the richer part of Konoha.

He walked for a while in that direction. This was the part of town where all the clan compounds and the Hokage mansion was. All the rich merchants and all the best smiths lived here as well.

However, where he was headed he needed to walk a little further. He ended up passing the Hokage's mansion. It was a huge building indeed; however it looked more like a fort than a mansion and did not fit in well in this part of Konoha.

Just as he rounded the corner of the building the door to the mansion opened and a bun haired girl walked outside and headed in the opposite direction towards the market street of Konoha.

As he neared his target building he noticed that the mansions and compounds where becoming fewer and fewer. More and more forest appeared the closer he got to this house.

Eventually he was walking along a trail in the forest. He finally reached his destination and looked at the structure. It was definitively a modest man's house.

It was an ordinary one floor building. Indeed, the fourth Hokage must have been a modest man. It made Yamada wonder how he persuaded the ANBU captain at the time to let him live there.

Normally a Hokage would either live in the tower or in the mansion, however, the fourth wanted to live in peace far away from people.

As he approached, Yamada dropped the henge. The people of Konoha thought of this place as sacred and no one of them ever came here.

He himself had been there once before. He stumbled over it one night he didn't get any sleep and took a midnight walk. He had asked the Sandaime about it the day after and he was told it was the house of the fourth Hokage.

He was then abruptly stopped by an invisible barrier which surrounded the whole house by the looks of it. _'Well, it's now or never.' _Yamada thought as he unsealed the vial with Naruto's blood.

He dipped his finger in the blood and carefully smeared it out on the barrier. He then stepped back and waited for a couple of seconds.

It was kind of funny. All Yamada saw was basically blood floating in the air in front of him.

As time went on Yamada started to doubt his theory and was about to leave when the blood disappeared from the air. He carefully tried to take a step forward.

The barrier was gone. He took another slow step just to be sure and again nothing happened. _'Just as I thought. Minato Namikaze sealed the Kyuubi inside his own son…' _Yamada thought with a frown.

Although he was happy that his theory was right, he also felt sorry for Naruto.

He approached the door and was about to open it, but noticed another seal on the door. _'Well, he wasn't called a seal master for nothing.'_ Yamada thought with a sigh.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"How are you Hinata? I haven't heard from you for ages." Tenten asked as she ran into her best friend. Hinata smiled at her longtime friend. "Sorry about that, I haven't had time to catch up because of all the missions." Hinata replied as she was engulfed in a hug.

Hinata had changed a lot the tree years and when I say a lot I mean a lot.

Hinata retained her straight, hime-style haircut, but she had let her hair grow to waist-length, while the short strands that framed her face had grown to shoulder-length. Her figure had also grown to become much more womanly.

She also donned attire comprised of a loose fitting, lavender and cream hooded-jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armor with navy blue pants and black, low-heeled sandals. Although she still wore her forehead protector around her neck, its color had changed from blue to black.

Tenten had also undergone some changes in the tree years. It was more or less just her outfit though.

Her outfit had undergone several changes: she now had a long-sleeved white blouse with a high collar and red fastener and edges paired with similarly colored, puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages.

The shuriken holster and the bandage on her right leg was removed and she wore brown fingerless gloves, with her forehead protector having switched to the same color and her shinobi sandals having been replaced by black, open-toed sandals with low heels, and the shoes extend to the lower ankles; everything was still a reference to the Chinese culture though.

"Well, I am glad we have time to catch up now at least." Tenten said with a smile and Hinata nodded. They went to a small restaurant nearby and sat down.

"So how are you holding up, you know with the baby and all?" Hinata asked carefully. Tenten's smile faulted a little at that question.

"It's going great, I mean Kumiko is growing like there is no tomorrow. I am trying to teach her how to walk and talk however… it would be more memorable if I was just able to find the father." Tenten said.

Hinata placed her hand on Tenten's in a comforting manner. "Don't worry, I am sure you will find him." She said reassuringly.

"I am not so sure. I am even starting to doubt the fact that he is alive." Tenten said in a depressed voice. Hinata looked worriedly at her friend, but didn't want to press the matter.

"Anyways, how are you doing after… you know… Naruto?" Tenten asked trying to change the theme of the conversation. "I am doing fine, however there is something else that is bothering me." Hinata said.

"What is it?" Tenten asked curiously. "Father wants to marry me away." Hinata said and Tenten's eyes widened. "Why would he do that? Who is it? Is it to Kiba? I swear if that Inuzuka had something to do with it I will…" Tenten started her rant, but was stopped by Hinata.

"Tenten calm down, it's not Kiba-san." Hinata said. "Then who is it?" Tenten asked. Hinata was very hesitant to answering this question however.

"It is… the Kazekage." Hinata said with hesitation. _3… 2… 1…'_ Hinata mentally counted.

"What!?" Tenten shouted in surprise. "The Kazekage has been pressured by his own council to get married and father wants me to marry him to try and get Suna back as our allies again." Hinata explained.

It took a short while for the words to sink in for Tenten, but when they did all hell broke loose.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada fell down in a chair in the hotel room he had gotten himself. He was just finished sealing everything at the fourth Hokage's house into sealing scrolls.

It was late at night and he decided to stay the night. He only had one mission to do before he left the village. For now, however, he would take his time to recover.

The fourth must have been paranoid or something. There were over twenty security seals and that was only on the outside of the building. However, it was all worth it.

He was of course going to give everything he found to Naruto. It belonged to him after all.

There were some things, however, he would ask to borrow from the blond. Some it was scrolls of Fūinjutsu which he figured the blond would have no use for.

There were some other things he could think of borrowing, but all in its own time. Right now he had to focus on his job which was no simple task.

He was going to steal some things from the Hokage's vault. Luckily he had been a part of the Hokage's personal guard and knew his way around.

He also knew how the shifts where unless they had changed it when he was gone. He was also going to take a look inside the Konoha archives. From there he could dig up a lot of gold that could be useful in the future.

If he remembered correctly there was only one guard guarding the vault, but then again it could have been changed over the years.

Well, he would think of that when the time came. For now he wanted to sleep.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The next morning he got up and into his usual outfit. He decided to leave behind his hitai ate just in case he was caught on this.

He had everything packed and ready for leaving once he was done at the Hokage tower. He knew that once they noticed someone had been there they would close of all entrances to the village and martial law would be passed.

He exited the hotel room through the window and headed straight for the tower. The clock was five in the morning so he wasn't worried about getting caught.

Even the Hokage hadn't gotten back on her job yet. As he approached the tower he could sense the ANBU stationed in it, no matter how hard they tried to hide their presence.

He easily found an opening between two of them and got inside the tower. _'Ok, now on to faze two.' _He thought as he located the closest ANBU inside the tower.

In a burst of speed he appeared in front of the ANBU and knocked him out before he could sound the alarm. He then dragged the unconscious ANBU into an empty room before he stole the man's uniform.

'_Now everything should go smoothly.'_ Yamada thought as he smirked behind the ANBU mask. He disappeared from view and headed straight for the vault.

'_Not even one guard, weird.'_ Yamada thought, but didn't question it. It just made his job that much easier.

He easily removed the seal that blocked his entrance into the vault and casually strolled in. his eyes immediately landed on the scroll he was looking for.

The scroll of seals. The Scroll of Seals contained the most dangerous techniques in Konoha. He quickly grabbed it and headed of towards his second location, the Konoha archive library.

The Konoha Archive Library he knew was built into the same mountain that has the Hokage Monument. Information on Konoha's ninja, past and current, was stored there, as well as other points of interest such as sensitive village information.

It would be the perfect leverage should kiri need to go to war with Konoha. Yamada just hoped that it would go as smoothly as in the tower.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Naruto and Misaki were walking down the street in wave country. They had been looking for a ramen stand for ages and were starting to grow tired.

It was already dark outside and both of them were starving. They had delivered the treaty to the daimyo of wave and he had been very pleased with signing it. After that they went to Tazuna's house and decided to stay there until Yamada came back.

"Naruto, can't we just eat somewhere? You can get ramen another day." Misaki whined as she walked behind the blond. "Alright, but I swear I saw a ramen stand here three years ago." Naruto said.

"Yeah, but that is tree years ago! Come on, this looks like a good restaurant." Misaki said before she actually dragged him into the first restaurant she saw.

They spent a couple of hours there eating before they headed out again towards Tazuna's house. "That is the best I have eaten in a long time!" Misaki exclaimed as she patted her belly.

"Still not better than ramen." Naruto mumbled. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until they came upon a couple of Suna shinobi.

"What are Suna shinobi doing in wave?" Naruto asked in a friendly tone. The two shinobi turned to Naruto and scoffed.

"What does it matter to you?" One of them asked. "Hey, I am actually friends with your Kazekage so don't talk to me like that!" Naruto shouted.

"Yeah right, if you are friends with Kazekage-sama then you should know what has happened to him." The other one exclaimed. "Has something happened to him!?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Baka, he has been kidnapped by the akatsuki! We are on our way back to the village now to help get him back." The first shinobi shouted before he realized what he said. Naruto just stood there frozen in fear.

Misaki was about to ask him what was wrong, but didn't get the chance to as he started running down the street. "Naruto! Where are you going?" Misaki shouted after him as she struggled to keep up.

"I am going to Suna to save my friend!" Naruto shouted back. "But Yamada told us to stay here!" Misaki countered. Naruto just grinned at her before he answered.

"Since when did I follow orders?"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

At the same time Yamada was headed back towards Nami no Kuni. He had copied as many scrolls and books from the Konoha archive as he could before he had to leave.

He had not bothered with copying their shinobi lists and just stole them instead. Now he was crossing a certain known bridge.

He arrived at Tazuna's house and was welcomed warmly. "Yamada, how have you been?" Tsunami asked as she opened the door for him.

"Just fine Tsunami-san. Where is Naruto and Misaki?" He asked with a smile. His smile disappeared when Tsunami frowned. "They left a couple of hours ago towards Suna. Something about saving a friend." Tsunami said.

Yamada went stiff right then and there. The only friend Naruto had in Suna was Gaara and if Gaara was in trouble it was a possibility that it could be akatsuki.

"Are you going to leave after them?" Tsunami asked breaking him out of his thoughts. "Not tonight, it is really late and I have to wait for the document from Mizu's daimyo. I also have something personal to do." He said.

"Ok, you can stay here until then." The black haired woman said with a smile. "Thank you." Yamada said with a short bow. "But first I am going out for a while." And with that he disappeared in a shunshin.

He reappeared at Zabuza's grave. The Kubikiribōchō still stood at the grave covered in moss. It was not rusty for some reason, but then again it was a special sword.

"Hey Zabuza… I don't really know what to say right now… Haku is fine. She is in the hunter nin corps of kiri. The revolution has been won as well. Just thought you wanted to know." He said awkwardly.

It was strange speaking to a grave, but for some reason it was relaxing as well. "Listen, if you were alive you probably wouldn't have liked what I'm about to do… hell you probably don't like it in the after life either." He said with a chuckle.

"However, the swordsmen of the mist are re-created and I have to take your sword. I really hope you are not cursing me in the afterlife right now, but I think you as well as me want the sword to be used again. To only let it stay here is a shame and you know it as well." Yamada finished and waited.

He waited for any kind of response. He didn't know why though. _'I guess I believe to much in the supernatural.'_ Yamada thought in amusement. He slowly walked forward and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

He hesitated for a moment before he felt a gust of wind blowing through his hair. He smiled sadly as he felt the wind hit his face before he pulled the huge sword out.

"I promise you Zabuza, only a worthy successor will get his hands on this sword." Yamada said as he looked at the cleaver sword.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** And that's a wrap. It's the end of the year people! You ready for a new year? I decided to upload an extra chapter today since it's such a special day!

Before you ask, yes there is going to be one on Sunday. This is just a extra one this week. With that I wish you all a happy new year!

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 4: Explosions or Puppets

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

Jack (Guest):

Yeah, but I don't think he will use it.

tHe ultimate demon dragon:

Would love to, but I barely managed to get up an bonus chapter this week so I doubt I will update more than once a week from here on.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada arrived at the border of Kaze no Kuni as soon as he possibly could. He had to use one and a half days to get there from where he started in wave.

He was quickly stopped by a whole patrol of guards. After their kage was kidnapped, Suna was preparing to be invaded since it was a prime opportunity for any other village.

"Halt, Sunagakure and Kaze no Kuni is under lock down! We ask that you please return where you came from." The lead guard shouted. "Uzumaki Naruto, has he been through here?" Yamada asked completely ignoring the Suna shinobi's request.

"That is none of your concern kiri-nin, now go back where you came from." The Suna-nin said with determination. Yamada narrowed his eyes at the Suna-nin before he disappeared and reappeared in front of him in a flash of speed.

"The Mizukage has entrusted me with him and that little girl he was traveling with. If any kind of harm comes to any of them then let's just say that you are going to wish for death when I'm done with you." Yamada said in a dangerously low tone as he held on to the front of the man's vest.

The man swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his head to one of his comrades. "Go g-get Temari-sama!" He shouted trying not to stammer.

Yamada let go of the man and he fell on his butt earning a few chuckles from the other ninja around. They waited for a couple of minutes in an awkward silence before Temari finally arrived.

Temari's attire was completely different from the first time he met her. She had exchanged her previous purple-colored kimono for a short-sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline. While she retained a red sash tied around her waist, she now sported fingerless black gloves and now wore her forehead protector on her forehead.

"Temari-san, how nice of you to join us." Yamada said jokingly. "Cut the crap Yamada." Temari said while she rolled her eyes.

"Where is Naruto." Yamada asked seriously. "Chiyo-sama, Naruto and that little girl went after the akatsuki to get Gaara back." Temari informed.

"You let two Jinchuuriki go after a group that hunts them? Are you fucking nuts?" Yamada shouted in anger. "Not just that, but the fact that Misaki is barley trained in the shinobi way and you more or less sent her to her death!" Yamada continued.

"And the only back up they have is an old lady!" Yamada finished as he was breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, I didn't know any of that. They just said they wanted to help and if you didn't notice we are kind of desperate right now." Temari said in self-defense.

Yamada closed his eyes and took a calming deep breath before he opened them again. "Where did you send them? Where is the akatsuki?" He asked.

Temari stared at him for a couple of seconds. "Well, if you're serious about going after them." She began and looked at Yamada to see if he was serious.

When she got her confirmation she continued. "Ok, this is what we know so far…"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"So how are you today?" Mei asked as she walked into a heavily guarded hospital room. "Go to hell." Guren said from the other side of the room with her arms crossed over her chest.

At the moment she just looked like a spoiled brat who didn't get what she wanted for her birthday.

"Aw, don't be like that. In fact you should be grateful we waste medical resources to treat you." Mei said as she looked down at the woman in the hospital bed.

She figured Guren was about maybe ten years younger than her, maybe older than that. "So what happens now?" Guren asked bitterly.

"Well, that highly depends on you." Mei said as she leaned against a wall. "What do you mean?" Guren asked in confusion.

"Either you go into prison and live a miserable life there or you become a ninja of Kirigakure on probation." Mei said and Guren snorted. "Yeah right, like I would fight for this village." Guren said.

"Have it your way then. When you are ready to get out of her you will be escorted to a prison. The suppressor seals you have on you now will stay on as well." Mei said before she walked out of the room.

Suppressor seals were seals that sealed off people's chakra, leaving them completely useless. The seals were placed on the four wrists and one at the neck.

"Wait!" Guren shouted hesitantly before Mei had the chance of walking out. Mei stopped in the door opening and smiled a small smile to herself before she turned back around.

"What is it?" The red head asked. "If I where to go on probation, who would guard me? I don't think you would trust me enough to be by my own." Guren said.

"You're right, we won't trust you. That's why you will be guarded by the best shinobi in the village." Mei said. "And who is that?" Guren asked trying not to sound too curious. "The same guy that beat you." Mei said before she turned back to the door.

"I can see you still need some time to think it over. Just make one of the ANBU in the room get me when you have made up your mind." She said before the door was closed and locked behind her.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Another chakra signature is approaching our location." Said one of the cloaked people that were now extracting the one tails from Gaara. "So what? The ones that are outside haven't even figured out how to get inside, yeah. Why should we be worried by this one?" The one with blond hair said.

"Because this one might have a brain. Kisame, can you stall him?" The shortest one of the group asked. Kisame only grinned before he disappeared from the finger of the giant statue they were standing on.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada used another day making his way towards the akatsuki hideout. _'Looks like there has been a battle here… that means I'm on the right track!'_ Yamada thought as he arrived in a clearing. There were many obvious traces of battle.

A body was also lying nearby, obviously dead. It was very obvious that the Rasengan was used on this man as well.

He continued in the direction he was already headed. In the distance he could sense five strong chakra signatures. It was faint, but it was all he had to go on by now.

"Naruto and Misaki, you two better not die on me or I will revive you and kill you again myself." He muttered to himself as he continued on his way.

He was suddenly forced to stop as he came upon a man in a very familiar robe with blue skin. "What's up gaki?" Kisame asked with a shark like grin.

"I didn't expect running into you. In fact… how come I couldn't sense you?" Yamada asked as he got into a defensive position. "That is for me to know and you to find out gaki. Now let's do this." Kisame said as he lifted his giant sword down from his shoulder.

"With pleasure." Yamada replied as he pulled out his own sword. _'Ok, if I am to judge him by where he came from then he will most lightly use Suiton jutsus so I should probably use Doton and Raiton jutsus.'_ Yamada thought with a calculating gaze towards the blue man in front of him.

He activated his sharingan which made Kisame smirk wider. "I always wanted to test myself against the sharingan." He muttered.

The two swordsmen charged at each other and their swords collided midair. The two were then locked in a power struggle, both pushing with all their might.

"Let's see who's the better swordsman eh?" Kisame said with his shark like smirk ever present. Yamada quickly understood that this was a losing battle when Kisame begun overpowering him.

The bigger man clearly had the most raw power, although that was expected since he was wielding such a huge sword.

Yamada jumped back and slammed his free hand into the ground. "Doton: Doryūsō!" He shouted and the spears flew straight at Kisame.

Kisame threw his sword up in the air. "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" He shouted after going through some handseals. He then spit out a great volume of water from his mouth which lifted him above the spears that disappeared into the water.

The surge of water was now heading directly at Yamada at tremendous speed with Kisame riding on top of it. If that hit him he would be crushed for sure.

Applying chakra to his feet, Yamada easily jumped over the water and landed safely. What he hadn't expected however was for the surge of water to come at him again before he could react.

In the last moment he locked eyes with Kisame before the water crushed him completely. "Looks like I overestimated the kid." Kisame said to himself.

However, he had to quickly lift his sword to block another sword before it hit him. "Don't think I'm that easy to kill." Yamada said with a smirk. "I see… you trapped me in a genjutsu." Kisame said as his smirk turned into a full blown crazy smile.

"Maybe you will be entertaining to play with after all." He said. Yamada jumped back and placed his sword on his back. "You want to play? Ok, let's play!" Yamada said.

He jumped onto the only landmass he could find before he focused lightning chakra into his hand. The lightning snake appeared and dived head first into the water.

Kisame's eyes widened in realization a little too late before he was electrocuted. He grit his teeth to hold in the scream that threatened to tear through his throat.

Yamada stopped electrifying the water and focused his lightning chakra in his hand once again. He then charged towards Kisame who was trying to catch his breath.

"Raikiri!" He shouted and slammed his hand through Kisame's chest. Instead of blood, water shot out of his chest and Kisame collapsed into a puddle of water.

"Mizu bunshin… where is…" He started, but was interrupted. "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" Kisame shouted behind him. The water they were standing on shot up and took on the form of a shark.

Kisame thrust his hand forward and the shark was sent towards Yamada at high speed. "Katon: Karyū Endan!" Yamada shouted and the fire jutsu and the water jutsu channeled each other out.

A mist was created out of the two jutsus colliding and Yamada found himself on the defensive as he was looking for his opponent with his sharingan eyes.

He quickly lifted his sword as he heard something slicing through the air and almost gave after because of the enormous pressure that was put behind the swing.

The water stood in every direction and the mist was blown away be the force of the impact. Yamada after a while couldn't handle the pressure and was pushed underwater.

Kisame watched as Yamada hit the bottom of the small lake he had created. With a smirk he did one more jutsu that would probably finish the battle.

"Suiton: Goshokuzame!" He said as he placed the palm of his hand against the water's surface. Five sharks were created out of the water and circled Yamada.

"First meal." Kisame said and the first shark headed straight for Yamada. Yamada drew his sword and cut the shark in two before it reached him.

"Second meal." Kisame said and the second shark came up behind Yamada and dove straight into him knocking his breath out.

"Third meal." The third shark took a bite at Yamada's arm and ripped it off.

"Fourth meal." The fourth shark pushed Yamada back onto the bottom of the sea with brute force.

"Fifth meal." The fifth and final shark dove into Yamada who was lying on the bottom of the ocean and the four others followed immediately.

"It was fun while it lasted." Kisame said as he smirked to himself. The smirk did not stay on his face for long as he suddenly felt a pang of pain in his chest.

He looked down and saw three Yamada's, breathing heavily with their hands through his chest while sparkling with lightning chakra. "You should be careful with who you look in the eyes." Yamada said as he smirked up at his enemy.

He pulled out his sword and made a quick slice that cut of Kisame's head. "Just to be sure." Yamada muttered.

Kisame's head and body fell into the water and sunk to the bottom before the water level started sinking as well. The water soon disappeared and Yamada once again stood in a barren wasteland.

He walked over to the corpse of his enemy and stared in shock when he saw a Suna shinobi instead of Kisame. "What the…" he muttered as he bent down to take a closer look.

Sure enough, it was the one he had killed. The three holes in the chest were proof enough of that. _'Whatever, I don't have the time to examine the corps. I have to help Naruto and Misaki.'_ He thought before he sealed the body inside a scroll and took off again.

He could feel tailed beast chakra and he was getting closer. Since he had some of Kyuubi's chakra in him he could sense that more clearly.

'_I just hope I'm not getting there too late.'_

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Argh! How do we get inside?" Naruto shouted as they stood before the giant bolder. Misaki and Chiyo stood behind him watching him bombard the boulder with multiple Rasengan at the time.

They had to defeat Itachi before they arrived at this point, or at least a copy of Itachi. There was something wrong with him since he turned into someone else after he was defeated.

"Naruto, stop it already! You're obviously not getting in that way!" Misaki shouted "Then how do we get in?" Naruto asked as he turned towards the two, his eyes blood red with slits.

"Maybe it's got something to do with that seal." Chiyo muttered to herself. "Well, we don't have time to figure out a seal! We have to save Gaara!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"Naruto calm down. You are drawing on the fox's power." Someone said from the cliff above them. They all three looked up to see Yamada standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You two have a LOT of explaining to do." Yamada said in an ice cold tone. Misaki looked at the ground in shame, but Naruto didn't buckle.

"I had to save my friend Yamada and you know it!" The blond shouted. "And risk yourself getting captured? What is wrong with you? Are you that selfish?" Yamada countered.

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that and looked down at the ground. Yamada took a deep calming breath and spoke in a calmer tone.

"Look Naruto, I understand that you wanted to save your friend. However if you were captured by akatsuki as well, wouldn't that make the situation much harder than it is?"

"But if I don't help him he will die!" Naruto protested. "And what in the name of Kami told you that you could take on S-rank missing ninja alone?" Yamada asked and Naruto looked down again.

"Perhaps we can discuss this another time? We still need to rescue the Kazekage." Chiyo, who had been silent up to this point, said.

Yamada went quiet for a moment after that statement. _'Well I won't be able to leave anyways. To get Naruto away from here would be impossible with the mood he is in, and after all, Gaara is my friend too.' _Yamada thought.

"You're right, we will talk about this later." Yamada said. "Now, let me take a look at this seal." Yamada said and walked up to the boulder.

He studied it for a moment before he nodded to himself. "I see, this is the Five-Seal Barrier. This technique creates a barrier around a place by placing four forbidden tags in different locations surrounding the place to be protected and a fifth tag on the location to be protected. The tags are placed on flat surfaces, and are connected with the user's chakra." Yamada explained briefly.

He then made four shadow clones and handed them a com link each. _'Now I'm really happy I brought these with me.'_ He thought. "My clones will go out and search for the other seals." He said out loud.

"Why?" Misaki asked curiously. "Because to get in we will have to pull off all five tags at the same time." Yamada explained. "That makes sense. I am not a Fūinjutsu master, but you obviously are." Chiyo said.

"I wouldn't say master, but I am decent with seals." Yamada replied modestly. He then sat down on the ground in the lotus position.

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked. "For now we wait until my clones have found the tags." Yamada answered. Naruto balled his hands into fists, but sat down on the ground with an angry expression.

They waited for a couple of minutes, simply sitting there. Both Yamada and Chiyo were meditating while Misaki and Naruto were pulling grass out of the ground.

Yamada suddenly opened his eyes and locked eyes with Naruto. "All the tags have been found." He said and everyone was instantly on their feet. He then walked up to the boulder and placed his hand on the seal.

He then proceeded to rip it off at the same time his clones ripped their seals off. _'Hopefully the trap doesn't activate since I used clones.' _Yamada thought.

There was a possibility to add a trap to the Five-Seal Barrier. The trap basically created a clone of the person that ripped off the tag. The clone would have the same skills as the one that ripped it off and would be one hundred percent identical.

He then walked a few steps away and charged up the Raikiri. "Now Naruto, if you please help me with a Rasengan." Yamada said to Naruto who had a wide grin on his face.

"Rasengan!"

"Raikiri!"

Both techniques hit the boulder at full force and it shattered like a piece of glass.

"Let's go!" Yamada shouted and the four entered the dark cave. They arrived to a scene that did not go well with Naruto. One blond akatsuki member where sitting on top of the lifeless body of Gaara while the other was standing casually of to the side.

"So then, I wonder which one is the Jinchuuriki." The blond man said. He had slanted blue eyes and very long blond hair which he wore drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging down freely. He also wore the standard akatsuki cloak. The other person had wide greyish brown eyes and a weird body structure.

The words from the blonde's mouth only seemed to anger Naruto more where he stood. His hands were balled into fists and the whisker marks on his cheeks were becoming more defined.

His eyes turned red again and his fangs grew in length. "You bastards! I am going to fucking kill you!" Naruto shouted in anger.

"The one who screams and charges first… is that him?" The shorter one asked. "That's what it looks like." The blonde said while a small smile was on his face.

"Where the hell do you think you are sitting?" Naruto shouted as his anger only seemed to grow. "There is no mistaking it." The blonde akatsuki member said as if he hadn't heard Naruto. "He is the Jinchuuriki. The first thing he will do is scream and charge at you. Itachi actually described him quite accurately." The blond said.

"Now, which one of you are the other one?" He continued.

Yamada foolishly took a step towards Misaki and pushed her behind him. "Ah, so it's the little girl." The blond said and Yamada cursed himself under his breath.

The blond akatsuki member turned to his partner and noticed he was having some kind of staring contest with the old lady in the gang. "Gaara! How can you sleep at a time like this?!" Naruto shouted in an attempt to gain contact with his friend.

He didn't want to realize it, but everyone else had. Gaara was dead. "Stand up! Gaara!" Naruto tried again. "Hey, Gaara, are you listening?! Stop it already!" Everyone remained quiet while Naruto tried over and over again without any luck.

Naruto was about to approach, but Yamada placed a hand on his shoulder. "Enough Naruto… you should already know…" He said in a sad tone.

"That's right. You get it don't you? He's been dead for a while." The blond akatsuki member said and proved his point by smacking Gaara in the face.

This only helped in infuriating Naruto. "Give him back!" Naruto said between gritted teeth. "Give Gaara back, you bastards!" Naruto shouted and he was leaking demon chakra constantly.

He was about to charge, but Yamada's grip on his shoulder tightened. "No you don't!" Yamada said in a voice that left no room for arguments.

"Think about what you're doing. If we charge in without a plan we're dead." Yamada said as calmly as he possibly could. Even though he tried to stay calm he was having a hard time trying.

His sharingan eyes where spinning rapidly and if someone could see his face they would see nothing but anger towards the enemy.

The two akatsuki members looked at each other and exchanged words too low for the others to hear. _'Temari said the blond one was the one that battled Gaara in Suna… which means the other one is the puppet master who poisoned Kankuro…'_ Yamada concluded in his mind.

He looked between the two akatsuki members. _'Are they having an argument? Here of all places?'_ Yamada thought while he was somewhat confused.

As they continued discussing the became louder in their statements. "So they are discussing art?" Misaki asked in confusion. "I don't think it's the kind of art we want to see Misaki." Yamada responded.

"You bastards! Stop screwing with us!" Naruto shouted as he unrolled a sealing scroll and a fuma shuriken appeared in a puff of smoke. He proceeded to throw it at the two enemies before Yamada could stop him.

It was easily blocked by something that looked like a tail from the puppet master. "Are you trying to piss me off?" The puppet master asked like the fuma shuriken didn't even exist.

"That's why I said this would probably piss you off!" The blond one said. "You should know what happens when I get angry." The shortest akatsuki member said as his tail was pointed at the blond.

'_Maybe we can make them fight each other?'_ Yamada thought. The idea amused him for sure, but he doubted they were stupid enough to fall for that.

"What do you say Deidara?" The puppet master asked as he turned towards the four intruders. The blond that was now registered as Deidara stood to his feet with a small smile on his face.

"To me the essence of art is… explosion." He said as he threw a small clay bird into the air. He did a one handed handseal and the bird was surrounded in a cloud of smoke.

When the smoke disappeared it was quickly revealed that the bird was now bigger than the average human. "It is completely different from your crazy puppet shows." Deidara said to his colleague.

Sasori seemed to take offence to that as his tail shot out towards Deidara. The blond however jumped over it and landed on his bird that had scooped up Gaara in its mouth.

"Later, master!" He shouted over his shoulder. "Come back you bastard!" Naruto shouted and went into a full sprint after Deidara before Yamada could stop him. "Dam it, Chiyo-san can you take care of your grandson? I need to go after Deidara and Naruto!" Yamada shouted.

Chiyo nodded and Yamada turned to Misaki. "I want you to stay out of this battle as much as possible. Only help lady Chiyo if it is absolutely necessary, understand?" Yamada asked and Misaki nodded.

"Good." Yamada said before he bit his thumb. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted and Kalurth appeared in the cave.

"**Yamada-sama, you summoned me?" **The dragon asked with a bowed head. "Hope your wings are ready, because we're going flying!" Yamada said as he got on the dragons back.

"**As you wish Yamada-sama. Just tell me where to go."** The blue dragon said before it took off after Deidara and Naruto.

"Give Gaara back!" He heard Naruto shout a distance away. _'I really hope Mei gets my message soon.'_ Yamada thought as he continued his pursuit.

Back in the cave the two puppet masters where still in there stearing contest. "I though you retired long ago." Sasori said. "I had a sudden desire to see my grandsons face." Chiyo said almost sarcastically.

Misaki looked between the two puppet masters in fear. She had never been this afraid in her entire life. The killer intent that was coming from Sasori was almost unbearable.

"Misaki, don't be frightened. I'll fight him. You stay back." Chiyo said calmly as she started walking forward. She put her hands into her sleeves and pulled out multiple kunai on chakra strings.

"Sōshūjin!" she said as the kunai were covered in chakra and flew at amazing speed towards Sasori. The puppet master lifted his tail to block the attack, but some of them changed directions and cut his cloak.

"If you are going to oppose me, then I have no choice." Sasori said as the rest of his cloak was ripped away. "Will you become part of my collection Chiyo obaa-sama?" He asked in a menacing tone.

Misaki was staring intently at the… thing in front of her. It was obviously not a human body, but if he wasn't human then what was he?

"It's a puppet:" Chiyo said as if she knew what Misaki was thinking. "And his real body is inside." The old lady continued and Misaki nodded in understanding.

"Do you know how I add to my collection?" Sasori asked and answered without waiting for an answer. "First I tear out their organs. Once I've washed it clean, I drain all of the blood. After I have made sure it don't decay, I fill it with weapons and traps, and make its addition official."

At this point Misaki was terrified of the man in front of her. He was truly a monster. Chiyo only had her eyes narrowed at her grandson and had a disgusted facial expression.

"And with you and Chiyo, I will have exactly three hundred puppets in my collection! This is my art."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Deidara was having quite a bit of fun. Here he was flying in the air while being chased by the nine tails Jinchuuriki. From time to time he would throw down a couple of explosions, but nothing mayor.

He wanted to take his time with this one. He was reckless and obviously an idiot.

However his fun ended the moment he saw something red in the corner of his eye. He just managed to steer the bird away just as a stream of fire went past him.

Turning around his eyes widened as he saw the masked man from earlier riding on a dragon. "Whoa, easy on the fire! Do you know what will happen if you hit this bird?" He shouted to the masked shinobi.

"Should you really be fighting me anyways, Genso Masutaa?" Deidara asked. "Just for the record, master Sasori is stronger than me." He continued in hopes of getting the new guy off his tail.

"Yeah, you know what? I'll take my chances. That old lady in there is no pushover either." Yamada responded before another wave of fire was sent towards Deidara.

The bird dodged again, but Deidara was not expecting Yamada to jump of the dragon and kick him in the chest. "Bad move kid. Kai!" Deidara shouted and the bird exploded.

However Yamada used his speed to his advantage and managed to retrieve the Kazekage and jump into a free fall before the bird exploded.

Kalurth flew beneath him and Yamada landed effortlessly on his back. They then landed a few meters away from Deidara and Yamada placed Gaara on the ground.

Seconds later did Naruto make it out of the ravine and immediately went to check on Gaara. "I have already told you it's hopeless. He's dead." Deidara shouted.

Naruto checked on the Kazekage several times and tried to wake him up, but to no avail. The blond looked at the ground as red chakra started bubbling out of his body.

'_I know where this is headed… but I'm going to let it play out for now.'_ Yamada thought as he jumped back on Kalurth and the dragon took off.

"**What is your plan, Yamada-sama?" **The majestic creature asked. "We will let it play out for now. Perhaps Naruto will actually learn something from this." Yamada answered.

"**Like what?"** The summon asked. "Like not to be reckless. Now pay attention." Yamada scolded.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Art, huh?" Chiyo asked. "You claim that killing humans to make puppets is art? In my view it is sick." She said with a hint of sadness. "You will become one of my works." Sasori said with determination.

His tail then arched backwards and looked ready to strike. "This puppet is a battle type puppet. But regardless, we must first separate it from Sasori." Chiyo said.

"W-we?" Misaki asked with wide eyes. "Yamada told me not to engage if not absolutely necessary." She protested.

"I can't defeat him alone." The old lady said as she closed her eyes. "I am too old to fight him by myself… however; we might stand a greater chance together." She continued.

Misaki mustered up what little courage she had and nodded. _'Got to be brave.'_ She kept telling herself in her head. "S-so what are we going to do?" She asked carefully.

"His additions to the puppet are the most dangerous part. As long as we don't know what he's done to it, we can't tell where and how he'll attack." Chiyo said.

"But he's your grandson right? So you know how his puppets work, right?" Misaki asked nervously and Chiyo nodded. "That's why I said I was going to go by myself first, but now I don't know if that is the best option."

"Why not?" Misaki asked. "Its form is a bit different from the puppet I knew. It never had such a large shell on its back. So the defenses have probably increased. And this is the first time I've seen that left arm. In which case, he may have changed the most important weapons as well." Chiyo explained.

"Then what should we do?" Misaki asked as fair was creeping up on her again. "In order to defeat Sasori, we must destroy that puppet first." The older lady concluded.

"Unfortunately, none of us have the physical strength to smash it." Chiyo said and Misaki gulped. "I-I-I might have enough strength in my tailed beast form, but I can barely control it." Misaki said reluctantly while looking down.

"It is our only shot at this point." Chiyo said and Misaki nodded reluctantly. "First we'll get close to him and break his puppet. But you must remember to dodge all his attacks."

"Why is that?" Misaki asked. "Because they are poisoned." Chiyo said simply. Misaki gulped, but nodded none the less. "A mere scratch can be life threatening."

"In order to evade the puppets traps, you must understand the battle style of the puppeteers, consider the full capabilities of the enemy puppet and make quick judgments about how to move." Chiyo said.

She seemed to hesitate a little before she continued. "If it is true that you might lose control when in tailed beast mode, then I will control you with my chakra strings." She said somewhat lower so that Sasori wouldn't hear her. "That way if you lose control you will still be in my control."

Misaki nodded in understanding as chakra bubbled up and started covering her body. She was just the opposite of Naruto and actually dared to call on the biju's power intentionally.

Naruto could also do it if he wanted to, but never did because he was afraid of the power he wielded. Misaki wasn't afraid of her own power like he was, but she was uncertain on herself which could be enough of a mistake in a battle.

Chiyo attached the chakra strings to Misaki's back who felt the enormous rush of power she always felt when going into this mode. One tail formed and that was as far as she could go.

They stood side by side looking at the enemy. "You ready yet? You know I hate waiting." Sasori said as he grabbed a hold of the face mask that covered the lover half of his face.

"Relax! Soon, we'll defeat you!" Chiyo shouted before they both charged at him. Sasori quickly pulled of the face mask and needles started shooting out of his mouth.

Both of them managed to dodge the needles and Misaki even took some of them out with a kunai. The needles kept coming in what seemed like forever, but stopped eventually.

Both girls kept their guard up, waiting for the next attack. "You saw through it. Alright then." Sasori said as one arm shot out in between the girls.

Both jumped forward and out of the way. "Die!" They heard Sasori shout before small containers shot out of the arm with poisoned needles inside of them which exploded outwards.

Both girls danced around in the storm of needles, like it was a dancing lesson to avoid all of them. Both landed on their feet and Misaki charged forward towards Sasori.

Sasori's tail shot out straight towards Misaki's head, but before it could penetrate her skull it was stopped by something. Chiyo had attached her chakra strings to the tail just like she did with Misaki's body which gave Misaki the chance she needed.

"Now Misaki! Crush it!" Chiyo shouted. Misaki drew her fist back before she slammed it into the shell of the puppet. The tailed beast enhanced fist shattered the puppet instantly and the real Sasori jumped out of the wreckage.

"So you finally came out." Chiyo said with a sarcastic tone. "I've come all this way to see my little grandson's face. It's about twenty years since I've seen you." She said with the sarcasm long gone.

From her position, Misaki could see Sasori making some motions with his hand. The head of the destroyed puppet floated up into the air and shot more needles towards them.

Chiyo quickly took control of the Jinchuuriki and pulled her away to dodge the needles. She landed not far from the older lady.

"Chiyo-san, I don't know how much longer I can hold this from." Misaki said and first now did the older lady notice the girl was breathing heavily.

"As I thought." Sasori said in a much softer voice making their attention go to him. "Just what I'd expect from my grandmother." He continued.

"No wonder the Jinchuuriki dodged my attacks so easily. She had you who could see right through them, controlling her with chakra strings." _'Dam it, he found out.'_ Misaki thought.

"And on top of that, you secretly put some on Haruko's tail." He said referring to the puppet. "But for me to not have noticed until I was unable to move the tail, you must have done it when you first attacked with those kunai.

You transferred the chakra strings connected to the kunai onto the tail as I blocked them." Sasori concluded.

"Impressive, considering that I suppressed the chakra flow to the point of making the threads invisible." Chiyo replied. Sasori turned around, but they still couldn't see his face.

"It wasn't hard. After all, you're the one who taught me how to play with puppets." He said as he reached for his hood. "But today the game comes to an end." Chiyo said.

"That's the plan." The akatsuki member replied as he pulled off his cloak. They were shocked, however, to see a young man maybe in his early twenties. "But honestly, do you think it'll be that simple Chiyo obaa-sama?" Sasori asked.

Chiyo had a look of shock on her face. How could this be her grandson? He was supposed to be much older than that.

Before the conversation could continue they heard a scream from the youngest girl in the room. She had been slowly losing control as time went by and as long as she stayed in tailed beast mode things only worsened.

She was now longer able to contain it as a second tail was beginning to form. Chiyo noticed that the Jinchuuriki's control was slipping and quickly attached her chakra strings again.

However, the demon chakra had become too aggressive and traced the chakra strings back to the old lady which Chiyo had to cut unless she would be hurt.

"It seems our Jinchuuriki friend here is getting restless." Sasori sarcastically said as they watched the transformation.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"How pathetic! You call yourself shinobi?" Temari shouted at her followers. They were a small group that had left Suna to help out the Kazekage against their superior's orders.

"Don't stress your shinobi too much, Suna-san." Someone said from behind her. She turned around and saw two people with Kirigakure hitai ate standing there.

"What are kiri shinobi doing here?" Temari asked in a threatening voice. "We are not here to fight. We are here to help." Chōjūrō said while he was waving his arms defensively.

"Yamada-taichou sent us a messenger which requested back up and an antidote for the poison sample he sent with it." Chōjūrō explained as he walked up to her.

'_So that's why he wanted a sample of the poison.'_ Temari thought. "So do you have an antidote?" She asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, we don't. We didn't have time to create one since we had to leave kiri in such a hurry; however we did bring one of our best medics with us." Chōjūrō said as he pointed to his company.

That was when Haku stepped forward. She was the best field medic in the hunter-nin corps and maybe even the best in kiri.

"I have been working on something on the way here, but we need a little more time." Haku said as she also approached the Suna-nin.

Temari looked skeptical for a moment, but shook it off. She couldn't be suspicious at a time like this. She would just have to trust them blindly.

"This is Matsuri." She said as she pointed at the girl next to her. "She will lead you back to Suna." She said. Matsuri herself looked shocked.

"You are just going to trust them blindly?" She asked. "I trust Yamada and he seems to trust them then so will I." Temari replied sternly.

"Fine, but please bring Kazekage-sama home safe." Matsuri said. "I'm his sister, what do you expect?" Temari joked.

Matsuri then turned to the medic. "Follow me!" She said and the two where off.

"Now are we going to rescue the Kazekage?" Chōjūrō asked. Temari nodded and the whole gang took off again.

"Let us not stress." The older man of the group said. His name was Ebizō and he was Chiyo's younger brother. "But we have to save my brother." Temari protested.

"Look over there." He said and pointed at something that looked like a battlefield. "That looks like the ground where a battle between the akatsuki and our temporary allies has happened which means that we are not in a hurry." He explained.

"If you still don't believe we shouldn't stress than perhaps I should tell you the story of the Sandaime Kazekage."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

A scroll slid down from Sasori's sleeve. He slowly unrolled it and the number three was written on it.

"This puppet is my favorite." He commented before a puff of smoke enveloped the area around him. "Th-that's… It can't be!" Chiyo stammered as she saw the puppet.

"That's the third Kazekage!" She said to herself. By this time a third tail was forming on Misaki and her skin started to peel of flake by flake.

'_It seems like we don't have much time before we've got a wild Jinchuuriki with us.'_ Sasori thought. "Now, let's do this." He said out loud just as Misaki was finished transforming transformed.

The Kazekage puppet shot forward towards the transformed Jinchuuriki._ 'Maybe now that the chakra has taken a solid form I can attach my strings to her.'_ Chiyo thought.

She quickly attached the strings and to her relief it worked. She pulled hard on the strings making Misaki fly back towards her.

"Die!" Sasori said as blades appeared out of the Kazekage's arm. "He's fast." Chiyo shouted as she just managed to pull the tail from the previous puppet in the way, stopping the blades.

The tail broke, but by that time Chiyo had already pulled Misaki further back. "Nice one Chiyo, but it looks like your puppet doesn't want to play anymore." Sasori said.

Just then Misaki ripped herself free from the strings with a deafening roar. The puppet's other arm opened in many compartments with seals on the inside.

Hundreds of new arms shot out of the seals. They flew directly towards Misaki and crashed down on top of her. "Misaki!" Chiyo shouted.

However, they were far from close to penetrating her skin even. They either broke against her skin or she broke them with her arms and tails.

One of the arms opened and purple gas was shot out of the tube, engulfing Misaki.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Well… I must admit this is very similar to what happened in the canon, but I have changed up a lot of it. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 5: Resurrection

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

tHe ultimate demon dragon:

Oh, you know I can't tell you that. You just got to wait and see. ;)

Guest:

That is possible, why? Are you a fan of Hinata x Gaara?

**AN:** I am really sorry if this chapter does not live up to your expectations. You guys already know that I'm not good at writing fight scenes and writing a fight scene with puppets only made it worse.

I rewrote it several times and I am still not happy with it, but I didn't have enough time to write it over again. This chapter is probably a little shorter than normal as well. I am really sorry about this and I promise I will make it up in the next chapter.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"_Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them." _

– _George Eliot_

"You think a little girl and an old hag will be enough to stand up against master Sasori?" Deidara asked with a very confident smirk.

"Don't you think you have other things to worry about then to chat with me?" Yamada countered from his vantage point. He then nodded towards Naruto who now had formed two tails.

'Although I don't believe for a second that Naruto can take him on alone… especially since he is not thinking clearly.' Yamada thought as he felt a snivel of worry for the blond.

"I'll kick the shit out of you." Naruto said and his voice was clearly affected by the demon inside. "Yeah yeah." Deidara said waving him off dismissively. With a burst of speed Naruto headed straight for the bomb lover planning on ending this fast.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Silence occupied the air as they were waiting for what would happen next. Chiyo was hoping beyond hope itself that Misaki was alright while Sasori was expecting the opposite.

Two red glowing arms out of nowhere breached the surface outside the poison cloud and headed straight for the Kazekage puppet. Sasori was quick to react and got the puppet out of harm's way, but had to keep on the defensive as the arms only changed directions towards his new location.

The biggest problem was that he didn't have much space to move since there were still some arms from the puppet stuck in the ground.

The poison cloud cleared a little. Sasori and Chiyo could see the transformed Jinchuuriki with her arms in the ground. _'The tailed beast form seems to be resisting the poison. The question is for how long though…'_ Chiyo thought.

Two more pipes from the remaining arms opened and two ropes shot out of them. They quickly bound Misaki and restricted any further movement.

Sasori made his puppet dodge one last time before it shot about twenty kunai against the bound Jinchuuriki. The kunai merely bounced of Misaki's skin though.

However, she became more infuriated then she already was and retracted her arms. She then began to struggle against the ropes that were binding her.

Two pops was heard from the other side of the room. This caught Sasori's attention as he turned towards his grandmother. Chiyo was standing there with two puppets in front of her.

In her hands she held two empty sealing scrolls. "Oh, those?" Sasori asked referring to the puppets. There was one male and one female puppet. The male one had red hair like Sasori's hair while the female one had black hair.

"So you remember them?" Chiyo stated more than asked. "Yeah, more or less." Sasori replied. "The very first puppets you created. 'Otosan' and 'okasan'." Chiyo said while recalling lost memories.

"And what do you plan on doing with those? I made those puppets. I know all their secrets. How stupid…" Sasori said completely ignoring the struggling Jinchuuriki.

"I wonder about that." Chiyo said mysteriously as an emotional moment seemed to pass between the two puppet masters. That's when Misaki broke loose of her bonds and let loose a terrifying roar as a fourth tail was beginning to form.

'_Dam it that is just one tail away from full power. I have to stop her before she goes overboard.'_ Chiyo thought with worry. The last thing they needed right now was a rampaging biju.

However, a blur flew past the Jinchuuriki and slapped a paper seal onto her forehead. Slowly the demon chakra reseeded back into her as the girl herself fell unconsciously to the ground.

Chiyo saw this as her opportunity to strike since Sasori's attention was elsewhere. The female puppet lifted the left arm while the male puppet lifted the right. The hands connected on the middle and when they separated there was ninja wire connecting them to each other.

The puppets then took off towards Sasori and his puppet. Sasori made his puppet retract the arms that where still lodged in the ground and sent them towards Chiyo's puppets.

The arms where easily captured in the ninja wire and cut in two. Chiyo proceeded with doing this several times until the arms where cut into many pieces.

Sasori realized what Chiyo was doing and detached the rest of the arm to prevent her from cutting the puppet as well. A Puppet Buzz saw appeared where the severed arm was supposed to be and the Kazekage puppet charged again.

The father puppet pulled out a segmented wooden whip covered with kunai from its sleeve while the mother puppet pulled out a katana.

The Kazekage puppet's Buzz saw collided with the mother puppet's katana making sparks fly everywhere. The mother puppet jumped back just as the father puppet jumped forward and used the whip.

The whip collided with the spinning blade and was damaged. The mother puppet once again jumped in with her katana and it once again collided with the Buzz saw.

Both puppet master where moving at amazing speed at this point. Only an experienced puppet master would know what was even going on.

The puppets where hacking and slashing at each other at the same speed as the puppeteers where using them. It would be quite a show for anyone watching.

None of them had paid any mind to the damaged Jinchuuriki, however, that was lying on the ground, breathing heavily and twitching in pain. Her skin was badly burned because of the chakra cloak.

The three puppets finally separated and all three puppets looked like they still were in prime condition. However the Buzz saw on the Kazekage puppets arm was destroyed as were the whip and the katana.

"This is getting annoying. I guess I need to bring this out." Sasori said and did one handseal. The mouth on the Kazekage puppet opened and something that looked like sand flew out of its mouth.

"So that puppet can really use the Sandaime's techniques." Chiyo said to herself. "It's been a while since you have seen it right?" Sasori asked with a small smirk.

"This is the reason the Sandaime was known as the strongest in the village. You are about to get messed up." The red head said.

All the iron sand was now out and Sasori was ready to make his move. "Satetsu shigure!" He said and the sand formed small needles and was hurled right at Misaki.

Chiyo's eyes widened and she sent one of her puppets to stop it._ 'I won't make it in time.'_ She thought. "Doton: Doryūheki!" Someone shouted and three earth walls appeared in front of Misaki.

The needles hurled down at the walls and broke through the first two, but stopped at the third. "That was a close one." Chōjūrō said as he stepped into the cave.

He had decided to take off before the Suna shinobi did since he had his own orders to follow. The old man was still telling a story when he snuck away. He quickly scooped up Misaki and turned to Chiyo.

"You can fight now without worrying about her. I will take care of her and come back to help." He said. Chiyo was about to protest until she noticed the kiri hitai ate on his head.

She nodded at him and he ran off before she refocused at the Kazekage puppet. She was quickly thrown into defense as she had to block a ton of more iron sand needles.

The father puppet jumped in front of her and produced a chakra shield. "I see you've been messing with them. The chakra shield… seems that he's been upgraded since he last played with me." Sasori said with a hint of amusement.

Chiyo was now breathing heavily since the chakra shield took a lot of chakra. She took down the shield and tried to move her puppet, however it did not react.

Then she noticed the iron sand which was now preventing the puppets from moving. "You know you have to dodge that technique, not block it." Sasori said with a small chuckle.

"I have pumped its body full of iron sand. As long as I have the Sandaime's magnetic powers, it's useless." He continued. "In order to make sure I finish you off this time, I'm going to put it in vorpal mode." He said as the iron sand rose into the sealing and formed spikes.

"You won't escape again. What are you going to do obaa-sama?" He asked before the spikes descended towards her. The spikes collided with the ground at full force, making dust clouds rise all around.

As the dust started clearing, Sasori could see that the mother puppet was out with her own shield. "I see… so you modified that one too." Sasori said.

"Once the iron sand gets inside, it's over. You're out of puppets. What are you going to do Chiyo obaa-sama?" Sasori asked with a small triumphant smirk.

Chiyo looked around herself at the two puppets. It was true that these two puppets where unusable, but that was not the only puppets she had.

"Even if you're an elite puppet master, without puppets, you're just a regular person." Sasori continued. Chiyo just gave him a cold stare as even more iron sand came out of the Kazekage puppet.

Four giant sculptures where created by the sand. "What should I do in this situation?" Chiyo asked herself as she looked at her grandson.

One of the triangular sculptures shot towards Chiyo at raging speed. She was sure to be crushed. "Hiramekarei Kaihō!" Chōjūrō shouted as his sword hit the iron sand.

He knocked the iron sand far off track and it collided with the ground on the other side of the cave. "I told you I was going to help." Chōjūrō said as he landed in front of the older lady.

Chiyo looked stunned for a minute before she spoke. "That sword is no normal sword is it?" She asked and Chōjūrō shook his head. "No, this is one of the swords that were made for the seven swordsmen of the mist." He explained.

'_I see… that's why he was able to use it against the iron sand.'_ Chiyo thought. Normally metallic weapons wouldn't work against the iron sand since it was magnetic; however, the swords of the mist were not made of regular metal.

"Chiyo-sama, would my water release slow down his iron sand?" Chōjūrō asked. "I don't know, but it is all we've got to go on for now." Chiyo answered.

Chōjūrō nodded and placed his sword back on his back. "Please use me as your puppet." He said shocking her.

"I don't know how to dodge a puppeteer's attacks, but you do. I will try to send off a water jutsu when I can." He offered. Chiyo nodded and attached her chakra strings to his back.

Chōjūrō then ran off towards the Kazekage puppet that sent another object at him. Chiyo pulled hard on the strings and he flew back out of reach before the iron sand hit the ground.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" Chōjūrō said as he gathered water from outside the cave that formed a dragon that raced towards the iron sand.

The compact sand was not shattered by the impact, but became soaked. When the Kazekage puppet tried to lift it, it barely budged.

"Good, we have a tactic that's working." Chōjūrō said. The rectangular iron sand sculpture tried to crush Chōjūrō underneath it, but was again pulled back by Chiyo.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" Chōjūrō shouted and the surge of water that came from Chōjūrō's mouth brought the rectangle right at Sasori himself who had to pull the puppet with him as he jumped up on the wall to avoid it.

The vibration shook the ground and even the water outside the cave. Sasori cursed under his breath as he looked at the water user.

"Two down, one to go." Chōjūrō said with a small smirk. Chiyo was smirking as well at this point.

Chōjūrō then felt a sudden strain on his body. _'Dam it; I need to cut down on the high level techniques. I have used very much chakra as it is.'_ He thought.

Sasori jumped down from the wall and landed on the ground elegantly. Three of the iron sand sculptures were now down. He only had one left.

The last one was a pyramid shaped one he slowly lifted into the air. He angled it upside down before it started spinning.

It picked up a lot of speed before it was thrown towards Chōjūrō and Chiyo. Chōjūrō jumped back just avoiding the spinning object.

It then became a game of tag where Chōjūrō kept dodging while the spinning triangle followed him almost everywhere.

He drew his sword, released it and hit the spinning object with all his power, sending it pummeling into the ground. He landed on the ground and did the handseals needed.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" He shouted and the water dragon once again appeared through the opening at the cave and splashed all over the iron sand.

"All your sand is down, what are you going to do now?" Chiyo asked. They were confused however when Sasori began to chuckle. "You think that your small water show took down my sand?" Sasori asked Chōjūrō.

The iron sand that was hit suddenly rose into the air again like it was untouched. "I must admit it was an entertaining idea for a while, but I grew bored of it." He continued.

Both Chōjūrō and Chiyo had shocked looks on their faces. "I think we need to go for the doll itself, Chiyo-sama." Chōjūrō whispered. "It's a puppet, but I understand what you mean." Chiyo answered.

The rectangle was sent towards them again. Chōjūrō put as much power as he could behind the swing of his sword as the rectangle was blasted back up and into the roof of the cave.

The cave collapsed seconds later bringing down the roof upon their heads. At this point Chōjūrō was breathing heavily and leaning on his sword.

Suddenly the triangle and the rectangle combined in the sky above them and a hatch opened on the Kazekage puppet's chest. "Satetsu Kaihou!" Sasori said calmly.

The two combined objects suddenly changed into a gigantic sphere of branching spikes. "Not good!" Chiyo said as she pulled on the strings.

The spikes hit the ground all around them and one of the spikes went through Chōjūrō's chest. The blue haired man's eyes widened as he felt the spike penetrate his chest.

Chiyo stared in shock at Chōjūrō. "I told you I had plenty of moves left." Sasori said from across the battle ground. "So you poisoned the iron sand, too?!" Chiyo asked.

However, both puppet masters where shocked when Chōjūrō collapsed in a puddle of water. "What?" Chiyo managed to say.

The two looked around for the swordsman, but didn't see him anywhere. That's when he came down from the edge of the destroyed cave roof.

He brought his sword down upon the Kazekage puppet, crushing its head along with the upper part of the body. He then jumped back to where Chiyo was standing while barley being able to stand on his feet.

"When did you switch with a Mizu bunshin and when did you make them?" Chiyo asked in astonishment. "I made the bunshins just outside the cave before I entered to help you and I changed places with one of them right before that spike hit me." He informed her and his enemy.

Seconds later all the iron sand seemed to collapse on itself. Chōjūrō figured it was because of the destruction of the Kazekage puppet.

"I think I need a break, Chiyo-sama. Do you think you can take it from now?" He asked to which Chiyo nodded with confidence. It would be a lot easier from now on.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Just as Chōjūrō exited the cave he made his way to where he had placed Misaki and collapsed on the ground next to her. He looked at her with a worried expression.

She looked like she really was in pain and it didn't look like it was getting any better. _'She is getting weaker… hurry Haku-chan.'_ He thought with worry.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Come on, think!" Haku said to herself as she paced around the room. She was doing her very best with coming up with a cure to the poison, but it was harder then she first believed.

She had removed most of the poison from Kankuro's body. It was pretty easy since she was a skilled Suiton user. She had used the water to enter his wound and bring the poison out along with it.

However, that would not be enough since she couldn't manage to get out every last drop of it. No, Kankuro needed the antidote, if there even existed one. He had already had the poison in his body for a long time and she was running out of time.

She continued with trying various ingredients to which all failed. That is until she stumbled upon one special ingredient, however it was very rare and she only managed to make three antidotes out of it.

"Finally I found the antidote." She muttered to herself.

She injected one into Kankuro and pocketed the two others. "The rest is up to his body. The antidote should help him fight off the remainder of the poison, but if his body is too weak to fight back then there is little I can do." She had informed Suna's medics before she took off towards the battlefield.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

With a powerful punch to the jaw, Deidara was sent flying through the forest terrain. He did not stop until he had hit four trees and even then he skidded along the ground before he stopped completely.

Naruto appeared above him again and drove another punch into Deidara's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. The shockwave of the punch made a huge crater and Deidara was lying in the middle of it.

Naruto continued to punch him, his knuckles getting bloody with Deidara's blood. Yamada watched from a distance with great interest. He had always been curious about a Jinchuuriki's power when using their demon.

Now, here he was witnessing it first hand and he had to say; it was rather impressive power. Naruto then formed the Rasengan in his hand and one could obviously see the Kyuubi's chakra in it.

He drove the technique into Deidara, however something was off. Instead of the jutsu meeting flesh, it met the soft surface of clay. _'A clay clone… interesting.'_ Yamada thought as he looked around for the real Deidara.

He then noticed that Naruto's anger was boiling up even more and a third tail was taking form. _'Crap, if he even shows one single sign of forming a fourth tail I will have to take him out.'_ Yamada thought.

"Kalurth…" He said gaining the dragons attention. "Prepare for a fight." He said to which the dragon nodded. He still remembered the warning Jiraiya had given them about Naruto.

When the fourth tail was formed Naruto could no longer distinguish friend from foe which meant Yamada would have to take him out before that happened.

Naruto punched the clay clone out of anger creating a huge dust cloud around him. He jumped up on a nearby boulder and looked around like a wild animal.

He was hunting for Deidara; the look in his eyes told Yamada everything he needed to know. He jumped off the boulder and punched a nearby tree with all his brute force.

This created a shockwave which went on for a couple of hundred meters. Deidara was watching from his hiding place with a psychotic grin on his face.

Then Yamada noticed it. Naruto's chakra cloak bubbled more violently and Naruto collapsed on the ground. Yamada took this as his cue to do his part.

The wooden dragon shot out of the ground and bit down on Naruto's form. Slowly the kyuubi chakra receded into Naruto's body while Naruto himself collapsed completely on the ground.

Kalurth landed on the ground close to Naruto and Yamada jumped off the summon without effort. "There you go." He grunted as he lifted Naruto into a standing position.

Ten wood clones grew out from Yamada. "Scatter and find the akatsuki member." He ordered to which the clones quickly obliged.

"You're kidding me! That kid's chakra level rivals Kisame's." Deidara said to himself. Not many could rival the blue man's chakra reserves, especially since he was considered a tailed beast without tails.

"And I only have a little clay left… it looks like I have to make a hasty retreat." He continued. He crabbed out of the bush only to meet three of Yamada's bunshin waiting for him.

"Took you long enough to notice us." One of the bunshin said. All three of them had the katana in their hand, ready for a fight. "The original should be over here soon." The second clone informed the two other.

The four jumped into the air and clashed several times with each other. The sound of metal meeting metal was heard all over the clearing.

Even though the three were just clones, they were not helpless. Deidara was fighting back with a kunai in each hand and proved quite efficient on close combat even though he was a long range fighter.

A root shot out of the ground and hit Deidara in the stomach sending him back against a tree. "You are out of your element, Deidara. You have no clay and even though you are efficient in close range combat, I am better." Yamada said as he stepped forward from behind a tree.

"Tch, you're probably right… however I am not completely out of clay." He informed as he threw the last of his clay into his own mouth and started chewing.

Yamada waited in silence to see what would happen. He was curious, but he would just let it play out and see what happened.

"I'll show you my ultimate creation." He said as he swallowed the clay. His body started expanding outwards into a giant blub. With his sharingan Yamada could see how he centered his chakra into one point of his body.

Yamada formed a wooden dome around himself just before Deidara went boom. He was not about to be blown up by this lunatic. "Art is a blast! Kai!" Deidara shouted as he exploded.

It was a giant explosion that was for sure and Yamada's defense barley held. When he opened his eyes after the blast he noticed he had a wooden splinter sticking out of his shoulder.

"Could have been worse." He muttered as he pulled out the splinter with a grunt. There was a crater where Deidara once stood.

"Too sad he didn't leave a body behind. He had a huge bounty on his head." Yamada said before he jumped out of the area. Deidara smiled to himself where he sat up in the tree.

He had far from blown himself up; he just made his enemy think that he did. He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the tree.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Yamada asked as he landed on the same branch he was sitting on and Deidara's eyes widened in shock.

"How did you know?" He asked while trying to ignore the sword that was pointed at his throat. "I am a sensor. I could sense you and my Kekkei Genkai enhances my sensing abilities." Yamada explained.

"So what are you going to do now, huh? Cut of my head and return it to Iwa?" He asked. "Well… first I would have taken your Kekkei Genkai… but I'm not that interested in having a mouth on my hand." Yamada replied before he swung his sword. He even enhanced the swing with wind chakra just to make sure.

He sealed the head in a scroll, burned the body and then headed back to Naruto. "He's dead, you happy now?" Yamada asked the blond. Naruto nodded with a serious expression.

"Fine, then let's get back to the others."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Haku was traveling through the forest at full speed. Misaki was leaning on her shoulder and Chōjūrō came up behind them and had Chiyo leaning on his shoulder.

She had arrived to see Chōjūrō collapsed on the ground next to a poisoned Misaki. She quickly tried to get out all of the poison from the girl before she injected the antidote.

She then gave Chōjūrō a soldier's pill before she ran towards the cave to help Chiyo. However, the older lady had already tackled the situation and was lying on the ground breathing hard.

A couple of meters away from her were the dead body of Sasori or if you could call it a body. Sasori had apparently made himself into a puppet to last for an eternity.

She injected the antidote into Chiyo as well before she brought the older lady outside and back to Chōjūrō and Misaki. Said girl was already back on her feet when Haku came back something that didn't surprise her considering the fact that she was a Jinchuuriki.

Now they were all headed out to find Yamada and Naruto who had split up from them in the beginning of the fight. They eventually came over a huge clearing in the middle of the forest.

They were about to move on, that is until they saw movement on the other side of the field. Yamada and Naruto appeared through the bushes.

"Yamada-kun!" Haku shouted and all four of them rushed over towards the two. Their pace lessened when they saw who Naruto was carrying and their smiles disappeared.

"Is he… dead?" Chiyo asked. Naruto nodded sadly and placed the Kazekage down on the ground. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he punched the ground repeatedly, cursing his luck.

"Haku-chan… do you think you can do anything?" Yamada asked with a sad expression on his face although it was hidden behind his mask and hood.

Haku carefully placed Misaki down before she made her way towards the Kazekage. She knelt down at his side and placed her hands on his chest.

Her hands glowed a faint green for a couple of minutes before the glow faded and she removed her hands. She looked down at the ground and shook her head, a grim expression on her face.

The first tear escaped Naruto's eye. Everyone else was silently morning the fallen Kazekage at this point. "Why? Why did Gaara have to die like this? You're the Kazekage, damn it!" Naruto said between sobs.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to save him, Naruto." Yamada said as he placed a hand on Naruto's shaking shoulder. Naruto slowly walked forward to Gaara's body.

"You just became the Kazekage!" Naruto said in a louder voice. "Calm yourself, Uzumaki Naruto." Chiyo spoke for the first time.

"Shut the hell up!" Naruto shouted as he turned around. Tears were falling down his face constantly. "It's your fault! If you goddamned Suna shinobi hadn't put that monster inside him, this would've never happened!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Do you have any idea what burden he carried?! You have no right to act like you're better, to label us and use us…" He continued and by now Chiyo was looking down in sadness.

His crying was now becoming louder. "I couldn't save him… I couldn't save Gaara… I trained so hard for three years… and nothing's changed…" Naruto sobbed out.

Chiyo suddenly looked up again and had a look of determination on her face. She got to her feet and walked towards the fallen Jinchuuriki. She walked past Naruto and sat down at the Kazekage's side.

Everyone else was looking at her while trying to find out what she was doing. She placed her hands on the Kazekage's chest and closed her eyes.

A few seconds later her eyes shot open. A blue aura was glowing from her hands and whatever she was doing was so powerful that it created shockwaves through the grass around Gaara.

Everyone's eyes widened slightly and Yamada decided to speak. "What are you doing Chiyo-sama?" He asked somewhat curiously. She didn't answer.

"It is a technique only known by Chiyo-sama, a technique that can revive a person." Haku explained although she already knew the side effects. _'I imagine this jutsu doesn't come without a price.' _Yamada thought.

After a while the blue glow around Chiyo's hands was getting smaller and smaller. She was clearly struggling with the technique since it had barley been any time since she fought. "Damn, I don't have enough chakra left." She said confirming their suspicion.

Naruto walked forward to the other side of the Kazekage. He placed his hands over Chiyo's shocking her. "Please, use my chakra!" He said while looking her in the eyes.

"You can do it then, can't you Chiyo obaa-chan?" He asked with pleading eyes. The glow widened again with the help of Naruto's chakra.

"If you guy's need some extra, I will be standing right here." Yamada said as he removed his hood and mask. Chiyo turned her head towards him. "I believe this will be enough, but I appreciate the effort." She told him.

Yamada nodded, but stayed where he was standing while looking over the Kazekage. The others stayed back since they didn't know Gaara as well as Naruto and Yamada did.

"Misaki… you are without doubt a very strong shinobi and I am proud to have fought alongside you, but learn to control yourself better. Naruto… this is a request from an old woman. You are the only one who can understand Gaara's pain, you and Misaki. And Gaara understands your pain. Please save Gaara." Chiyo said as a last request.

Naruto looked at Gaara's face for a second before he closed his eyes and nodded. Seconds later Chiyo fell backwards with a limp body.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Gaara suddenly sat up in his place, looking around wildly. At his side was his friend, Uzumaki Naruto with a small smile on his face. Around him stood a lot of Suna shinobi.

He could also notice some of the shinobi gathered that had kiri hitai ate. "Gaara…" Naruto said softly. "Naruto…" Gaara replied still in shock.

"They're…" Gaara said. "Everyone ran here to come save you!" Naruto said with a happy smile. "Gaara-sama! Are you okay?!" Matsuri shouted as she came running. Gaara nodded dumbly not really believing what was happening.

The whole crowd broke into cheers. They were cheering because their Kazekage was alright. Temari walked up to him and bent down next to him.

"You caused a big fuss." Naruto joked lightly. "Gaara, glad to see you're up again!" Yamada shouted as he was sighted walking towards them.

"Who do you two think you are? Gaara is the Kazekage! Show some respect!" Temari shouted at the two receiving a halfhearted glare from both of them.

Only seconds later did she push Naruto out of the way to come closer to her brother. "Gaara, how do you feel?" She asked worriedly. Gaara looked around once more before he struggled to his feet.

"You shouldn't start moving yet! Your body is still very stiff." Temari warned and he slowly sat down again. Two girls ran up to Gaara shouting his name with a blush on their faces. One of the girls was recognized as Matsuri.

They pushed Naruto away and he landed face first on the ground. "How am I alive?" Gaara finally managed to ask. "Chiyo baa-chan used some kind of technique on you. She is knocked out right now, but she will be up again in no time." Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Naruto… she isn't getting back up." Yamada said with hesitation in a low voice. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Because it was her life-transferring technique." Haku said bringing all the attention to her. "Chiyo-sama is dead." Haku continued as she looked down on the ground.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked who was now in shock. "It's a ninjutsu that allows you to bring back the dead, in exchange for your own life." Yamada explained.

He usually wouldn't know these kinds of things, but he was the one that caught her when she went limp. Silence spread across the clearing as no one spoke.

"Her face looks so peaceful that I keep thinking that she's going to burst out laughing." Chiyo's younger brother said. "A splendid end, fitting a true shinobi." Yamada muttered though no one heard him.

"Gaara-sama!" Matsuri shouted as she noticed he was trying to get up. "I'm fine." Gaara said as he slowly got to his feet. He was almost there when his legs gave out beneath him.

However, he didn't fall to the ground as someone grabbed his arms. He looked to both sides to see Naruto and Yamada holding him up. He got back up again and looked at the fallen form of Chiyo.

"Everyone, pray for Chiyo-sama." He said as he bowed his head. Everyone followed his example and bowed their heads to pray for the old lady.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Found it!" A loud voice shouted. "I found it, Zetsu-san!" The man with an orange mask shouted, his arm waving around like crazy. The man with the mask bent down and removed the ring that was on the now dead Sasori's finger.

"You think I can become a member of akatsuki now? There are two spots open now after all!" He asked as he sat down on a rock.

"Ignorant kid. It's not that simple." Zetsu said with a gruff voice. "Why not? Just let me in. Tobi's a good boy." He said as he threw the ring into the air.

He was about to catch it, but it slipped between his fingers and fell down between some rocks. "Ops." Tobi said. "We're going. We have to collect Deidara's ring as well." Zetsu said as he walked out of the collapsed cave.

"W-wait a second, Zetsu-san!" Tobi shouted.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Hundreds of shinobi was gathered on the walls of Sunagakure no Sato as they were waiting for their kage to return. Even more stood in the gate opening waiting.

One single shinobi pressed his way through the crowd. He was the one that had once been the Kazekage's sensei along with his siblings. He was not looking forward to telling them the bad news, but someone had to do it.

"Still no sign?" Baki asked. "It should be any moment now!" The lookout responded. If everyone wasn't so worried about their Kazekage they would have noticed the beautiful sun rise that was taking place right in front of them.

As the sun slowly tipped over the sand dunes they saw a mass of people heading straight for Suna. Gaara was sighted in the front being supported by Yamada and Naruto.

To their right was Temari while the kiri shinobi was to their left and behind them all came all the Suna shinobi that had gone out to save the Kazekage.

Cheers started breaking out among the waiting population of Suna. "Well, that's some homecoming." Yamada muttered and turned his head towards Gaara and Naruto who both had small smiles on their faces.

"That's what you'd expect for the Kazekage." Chōjūrō said who was supporting Misaki who still hadn't fully recovered. "Yea!" Misaki said in agreement.

The cheering crowd started running towards them to greet them. They all gathered around Gaara and Baki stood in front of them all. "I'm glad you're safe." He said with relief clearly evident on his face.

"Thanks to everyone here." Gaara replied. "Kazekage-sama, everyone from the village is waiting." He started before he hesitated a moment.

"Where is Kankuro?" Temari asked as she pressed her way through the crowd. Baki looked to the ground to try and formulate his sentence right. Several people noticed the look in his eyes and their expressions changed.

"I gave him the antidote to late didn't I?" Haku asked with a depressed voice. Baki couldn't do anything else but nod. "His body wasn't able to fight back and he died a few hours after you left."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada was standing in front of two graves in Suna, the graves of Chiyo and Kankuro. He had gotten used to this kind of stuff. Losing a comrade in battle, it was very normal in the shinobi world.

That was why he hadn't shed a single tear in the funeral. If his face was visible people wouldn't have seen anything. No emotions, just a blank expression.

He had cried out all the tears he had years ago. The last time he shed a tear was halfway through the bloodline war and it had never happened since.

Chōjūrō and Haku had returned to kiri with a message to the Mizukage. Apparently Gaara decided that the best way to thank kiri was to form an alliance.

They were still waiting for word from her, but Yamada was pretty sure she would say yes to at least negotiate.

Naruto had persuaded Yamada and Misaki to stay one week extra in Suna. To be honest Yamada didn't have anything against staying, but Naruto was a hunted man and needed to be on the move.

"How is Temari?" Yamada asked without turning around. A swirl of sand appeared behind him and Gaara appeared. "She is taking this really hard, but she will get over it." The red head replied as he walked up on Yamada's side.

A silence spread between them as they stood there, staring at the graves. Gaara hadn't shed any tears under the funeral either. Yamada merely assumed that Gaara was still too inexperienced with emotions to know how to react to it yet.

After a long time Gaara finally broke the silence. "It has been a long time since we had a spar last time." He said. A small smile appeared on Yamada's face as he turned to his friend.

"Are you still intent on beating me with your sand?" He asked although he already knew the answer. "I have become stronger since last time." Gaara stated simply.

With a small laugh Yamada started heading towards the training grounds. "It's still not enough to beat my Mokuton." He teased.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Again, I am sorry if the chapter didn't live up to your expectations.

Anyway I have another question for you guys this week. As I keep writing I constantly get new ideas that pop into my head. New ideas for new fics and when think the idea over I feel like I have to write it. However, I don't have the time for it… that is why I want to ask you guys something.

Do you want me to only focus on this fic until it's done, do you want me to focus on this fic and another one every other week or do you want me to only update every other week and put up two chapters for two different stories at the same time?

PM me or leave a review of what you think. I will take every review or PM into consideration and I will make my decision when next week's chapter comes up.

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	7. Chapter 6: Greed

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

tHe ultimate demon dragon:

That was the original plan and I will maybe stick to it, but I wanted you guys' input on the case.

Guest:

You will just have to wait and see.

:

Well, I am glad you found pleasure in reading the five chapters and you're right. Yamada is very strong (maybe stronger than I intended to make him… oh well), but like I mentioned in a previous chapter; he is modest about his own power. If anything he underestimates himself.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Konohagakure no Sato_

"Hokage-sama." The ANBU greeted as he landed before the Hokage with a bowed head. "What is it?" Tsunade asked while not looking up from her paperwork.

The ANBU thought over his words very carefully before he answered. "It seems… there was found an unconscious ANBU shinobi in this tower a week ago." The ANBU started.

This drew Tsunade's interest as she placed her pen down and looked up. "And why was I not informed of this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

The ANBU in front of her swallowed hard before he continued. "The… council wanted to keep it secret from you. They discovered there had been a break in in the vault. The scroll of sealing has been stolen, Hokage-sama." The ANBU finished.

For the longest of time there was silence. "And what do you expect me to do about it?" Tsunade asked suddenly breaking the silence. "H-Hokage-sama?" The ninja in front of her asked in shock.

"I have no authority over this village anymore, ANBU. The council has seen to that." She stated before she rose from her chair and looked out the window.

"The only reason I am kept around is because they can't find a suitable replacement and they need someone to do their paperwork." She continued.

"So I will ask again; what do you expect me to do about it?" She asked again with a stone hard gaze.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Come on Gaara, you've got to give me better than that!" Yamada taunted as he dodged yet another blast of sand. They had been going at it for almost three hours. Three hours of Yamada dodging Gaara's sand that is.

The Kazekage himself was breathing heavily while his opponent was barley winded. Gaara knew what tactic Yamada was using. He was simply wearing the red head out.

This tactic was risky since it could give the opponent an opening by being to reckless, however, Yamada had deactivated his gravity seals making his speed increase tenfold.

Gaara didn't stand a chance on catching up to Yamada's speed.

"Kazekage-sama, the convoy from Kirigakure has arrived." Said a Suna shinobi as he came walking into the training grounds. "Well, it looks like our spar is over." Yamada said as he began to casually stroll away with his hands in his pockets.

Suddenly he was encased in sand before he was brought in front of a red head with a small, barely visible, smirk on his face. "I win." He stated simply with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Oh goody! What did you win?" Yamada asked as he appeared behind the Kazekage with his sword against his neck. Gaara sighed before he crushed the Yamada inside the sand cocoon which was revealed to be a Mokuton bunshin.

"Humiliation apparently." Gaara stated with an irritated sigh. "That is absolutely right! Better luck next time." Yamada said as he smiled at the Kazekage and patted his shoulder.

"That was amazing!" Naruto shouted from the sidelines. "Why thank you Naruto-san, I try." Yamada said in a mocking tone.

"I was actually expecting to be greeted at the gates, Kazekage-dono. You are not making a very good first impression." Mei stated as she was seen walking into the training area with Ao at her side.

"However, I think I can let it slide since your village did support us in the civil war." She continued in a softer voice. Once the Mizukage entered the field Yamada lost all humor on his face and did a quick bow.

"It is good to see you again, Mizukage-sama." Yamada stated with a serious expression. "Likewise Yamada-san, I want a full report on your mission so far before I leave Suna." She demanded. Yamada did a quick salute before he walked off.

The two kage looked after him in silence before one of them broke it. "I just had a spar with him." Gaara stated. Mei raised a curious eyebrow. "And?"

"He was toying with me the whole time." The Kazekage stated hesitantly. "I am maybe the youngest and the most inexperienced of the five kage, but I am no weakling. It is a very skilled shinobi you have there, Mizukage-dono." The red head complimented.

"Indeed I do... I plan on letting him take my position one day." Mei muttered with a hint of pride. "I can see why." Gaara muttered back.

"Now, shall we get to it?" She asked as she changed the topic. "This way to my office." Gaara said with a nod and the two kage started their walk towards the Kazekage tower.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"What is it Misaki? I have a report to write." Yamada complained as he was dragged towards another training ground by the hyper red head. She had recovered quite quickly after the fight against Sasori and was very soon into hard training again.

They had stayed in Suna in a total of two weeks by now. It was comforting to stay in one place, but Yamada was too busy worrying about the two Jinchuuriki in the village.

Akatsuki was bound to get some sort of information about Naruto and Misaki being in Suna for a long period of time. They had to get moving before their third week in Suna was over Yamada had concluded.

"I want to show you my progress on the great fireball jutsu!" Misaki shouted in excitement. "Oh really?" Yamada asked. Misaki nodded eagerly which made Yamada chuckle.

"Ok, I guess I will watch." Yamada said with a small smile. Misaki cheered and dragged him the rest of the way to the training ground.

When they arrived Yamada walked off to the sidelines while Misaki got into position. She waited a little while to make sure he was watching before she did the necessary handseals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" She shouted before she spewed out a decent sized fireball. She turned to Yamada with a prideful expression. "What do you think?" She asked.

"It's ok, however if you want to use the technique to its full power you will need to pump more chakra into it." Yamada explained. Misaki looked sad for a moment before it was replaced with determination.

"Just keep practicing and you should have it down in no time." He said reassuringly and ruffled her hair. Misaki hugged him tightly which surprised him.

"Thank you, onii-san." She said as she let go and walked back to train. _'Onii-san eh? She has never called me big brother before… I like it.' _He thought with a soft smile.

"I am going to check up on Naruto's progress. Is that alright?" Yamada asked and received a nod from the younger girl. _'That's right; I still have the stuff that was in Naruto's parent's house. I should probably give it to him and explain how I got it.'_ Yamada thought as realization dawned upon him.

He walked around the village, looking everywhere for the blond. The sun eventually started setting and Yamada still hadn't found him. "Where the bloody hell is he?" Yamada mumbled quietly to himself. He then tried to sense the kyuubi chakra inside of Naruto.

He could sense the demonic chakra emitting from Misaki in the training grounds, he could feel the small bit of demonic chakra that was left after Shukaku in Gaara and lastly he could sense the strongest demonic presence on top of Suna's walls.

He slowly made his way to the top of the wall while thinking through the words he would use carefully. One wrong statement and Naruto could go berserk.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Naruto asked bringing him out of his thoughts. In front of them was a stunning view of the sun that was setting behind the sand dunes. The sky and the few clouds that were seen was painted orange in the rays of sun.

"It indeed is." Yamada replied as he sat down next to the blond. They sat there for a while admiring the sunset, however, Yamada knew he had to speak up sometime.

With a sigh he turned his head towards the blond. "Listen Naruto, I am about to tell you why I split up from you and Misaki before." He said which got the blonds interest.

"The short story is, I found out who your parents are." He continued which earned him a shocked expression from the blonde. "Really! Who, who were they?" Naruto asked loudly.

"Their names were Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze." Yamada stated and Naruto adopted a confused expression. "The latter one is also known as Konoha's yellow flash, the Yondaime Hokage." Yamada finished.

Yamada could see that Naruto had problems processing the information and gave him time. He could see all the emotions in Naruto's eyes, hurt, anger, sadness and many more.

"That can't be true! Why would he seal the Kyuubi inside his own son?" Naruto shouted as he started emitting kyuubi chakra. "Naruto you need to calm down! I don't know why he sealed it inside you, but I do know it's true! If it wasn't I wouldn't have been able to get inside the Yondaime's house to get these scrolls." Yamada said as he pulled out two scrolls.

"In these two sealing scrolls is everything that belonged to your parents. Your blood worked on the blood seal that covered his house." Yamada continued.

"In the scroll on the right is all the furniture, pictures and other possessions I could find and in the scroll on the left are all the techniques and weapons they left behind."

Naruto took another moment to process the new information. This was very much to take in, that was for sure. Tears brimmed at the corners of Naruto's eyes.

For the longest of time the two just stood there facing each other. Once in a while a lone tear would drip from Naruto's face.

"I guess… I should actually thank him." Naruto said which shocked Yamada. "If he didn't seal the kyuubi inside of me I would probably be pampered by the villagers just like you and Sasuke were.

I would probably never have gone to Kiri and joined the rebel forces." He said before he looked up with a small smile. "And I don't even know his reason so I'm not going to be mad at him before I know his reasoning."

Yamada sent a small smile at the blond. He had really become more mature over the years.

The blond then looked down at the scrolls in Yamada's hands. "You can keep the jutsus. I don't care about them, but I will take the other scroll." Yamada looked flabbergasted at this point.

"You don't want your own parent's techniques? Why?" Yamada asked in confusion. "Because I want to become strong on my own. I don't want to live of their names and accomplishments. I want to become strong by inventing my own jutsus." Naruto stated proudly.

Yamada stared down at the scroll in his hand. One part of him told him to accept the blonde's words and pocket the scroll while another part of him wanted to insist that the blonde had to take it.

"You do know what you're giving up on here, right? The Rasengan and the Hiraishin. It is his legacy…" Yamada said and Naruto nodded. "I know and I am handing them to you." Naruto said.

Yamada's eyes widened for a second before he nodded and pocketed the scroll. "Very well then." He said to Naruto. "Well, it's time for me to train now anyways." Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head and walked towards the way down from the wall.

"That's right; I forgot to ask you about your progress with the futon jutsu I showed you." Yamada said with a smile. Naruto immediately brightened and gave Yamada one of his trademark smiles.

"Follow me and I'll show you." Naruto said with excitement. Yamada nodded, but waited on the top of the wall until Naruto was out of sight.

"You can come up now." Yamada said while he stared after the blond. Misaki jumped up on top of the wall from her listening spot. "You aren't really going to keep those techniques are you? I mean, they belong to him." Misaki stated.

"I am actually going to keep them." Yamada stated. "What, but they aren't yours." Misaki protested. "But he gave them to me. Not only that, but I harbor something that is in all humans. Some more than others."

"And what is that?" Misaki asked curiously. "Greed." Yamada stated simply. "Every person on this planet harbor greed. Even if it doesn't show that often on some people we all know we have it. Power is one of the things my greed controls me on. I admit that."

"But still… that doesn't make it right." Misaki said lowly. Yamada turned to look at her with a stare which made the desert seem cold for a while.

"If there is one thing I have learned after sixteen years in this world Misaki… then it is that life isn't fair… and you need to realize that." He said in an emotionless tone before he started his walk down from the village wall.

Misaki shivered a little before she casually walked after him.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Well, I must admit this agreement does seem doable." Gaara said as he looked over the alliance that was drawn up. Mei looked at him and smiled.

"I am glad we see eye to eye, Kazekage-dono." She said as she shook his hand. "Now I only have that dammed council to worry about." Gaara muttered as he massaged his head.

"Trouble with your council Kazekage-dono?" Mei asked with a small chuckle. "You could say that." He answered. "They keep pestering me about a proposal from Konoha."

"And what is this proposal if I may ask?" Mei asked with a raised eyebrow. Gaara was looking at her for a long time as if considering if he should tell her or not.

However, since they now where allies he saw no reason not to trust her. "They are offering a political marriage between me and one of their Hyuga." Gaara said.

"That doesn't seem like Konoha… they would never offer the Byakugan to another village unless they were desperate. That or…" "Or they are looking for allies in a war." Gaara finished for her.

Mei frowned at this. She dearly hoped they weren't preparing to go against Kiri. That would leave Suna to choose a side and since Konoha was considered the strongest village Gaara would probably join them.

'_A kage must always set the village first.'_ She thought with a frown. "On one side it is a wonderful opportunity for my village to gain a new bloodline, but they might be going against Kirigakure and then I will be forced to join their side." Gaara summed up.

"A kage must always put the village first." Mei said wisely. "That is the only advice I can offer. Now, I believe we have something to announce to the citizens of Sunagakure." She said as she stood up.

"That we do, however I think it will have to wait until tomorrow since it is getting very late." Gaara said as he stood himself. Mei nodded and they both headed towards the office door.

Right outside the office door stood Yamada waiting with a filled out report in his hand. With a small bow of respect he handed the file to the Mizukage who accepted it.

Before she walked passed him she stooped and looked him in the eyes. "We need to talk later. There are some things I want to discuss with you. Come to my hotel room tomorrow after the ceremony." She said before she resumed walking.

Yamada nodded and he disappeared in a shunshin.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_The next day_

A ceremony was held to honor the new alliance. The population of Suna was ecstatic. After the broken alliance with Konoha everything had gone downhill.

The economy was ruined because their major trade partner was gone, they couldn't import food anymore (and the fact that they lived in a desert made that much more problematic than it sounded) and their shinobi forces was weakened under the invasion of Konoha so they were under a constant threat.

Now however, the economy could rise, they could import food and they had an ally should any other village attack them. Once again the people of Suna could feel safe.

Around sundown did the ceremony end and Yamada met Mei in the hotel room she had been assigned by Gaara. "You wanted to talk with me Mizukage-sama." He said as he bowed immediately.

"No need to be formal when it's just us, Yamada-kun." Mei said softly. Ao scoffed from his position to her right and she sent him an annoyed look. "Well, us and Ao. However I'm sure he can guard me from outside the room… right?" She asked in a dangerously sweet tone making a chill go down his back.

Ao gulped and nodded before he hurried out of the room. Yamada chuckled as he looked after the man. "You know that was just cruel." He said between chuckles.

He felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind and he immediately stiffened. "I haven't made up my mind yet Mei." He said. "Oh, I can probably help you with that… that is if you would let me." She said in a seductive voice right next to his ear.

He broke free from her grasp and walked a couple of steps away. "Was that the only reason you wanted to see me, Mizukage-sama." Yamada asked. He had almost given into her seduction… almost.

Mei pouted and crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. For a moment Yamada thought she looked like a spoiled brat and it was quite amusing.

After a while she realized that pouting wasn't going to help and she sighed. "No it's not the only reason. I have some new orders for you." She said and Yamada raised an eyebrow.

"I want you to continue with your diplomat mission, however in three months I need you to return back to kiri." She said. "And why is that?" Yamada asked.

"The academy is having the graduation ceremony and the potential swordsmen will be ready." She informed him and he groaned. He knew exactly what this meant… paperwork.

"I'm glad to know you look forward to it." She said in a dry tone and a small smirk was played on her lips.

"Is that all?" He asked and she shook her head. She now adopted a very serious expression. "No, there are rumors that some people still supported Yagura when I took over. The rumors say they have abandoned kiri and formed their own rebellion.

It's still just a rumor, but if I have confirmed it by the time you return I want you and Chōjūrō to eliminate every last one." She said somewhat hesitantly. "Isn't that a bit harsh?" He asked.

"It is, but I have to place the well-being of the village first and I want to show the other nations the might of the new swordsmen of the mist. We are also having problems with persuading the crystal user." She added and Yamada groaned again.

"Fine I accept all objectives." He said somewhat hesitantly. Mei nodded in approval before they bid their goodbye.

"Could I at least get a hug?" Mei whined. Yamada thought about it for a couple of seconds before he sighed and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

He of course thought that a hug couldn't be that intimate… how wrong he was. Mei hugged him tightly and purposely rubbed her leg against his crotch. At the same time her hot breath hit his ear and Yamada was having a really hard time not giving in.

When they separated Yamada quickly exited the room. Outside he found Ao giving him a knowing smile. "Oh shut up." Yamada mumbled before he walked away. He could hear the blue haired man chuckle as he rounded a corner.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada sat in the middle of the desert night a few miles away from Sunagakure. In front of him laid a summoning contract with the word snake on it.

He stared for the longest of time on the name that belonged to his grandfather. He was the only person that was able to pass all the trials before himself.

The name had a giant cross over it which indicated that the summoner was either dead or that the contract had been broken. That was the reason the next name on the contract interested him.

Orochimaru, the name of the man that had made his clan extinct, was crossed out of the contract. It confused Yamada a great deal. Had someone killed the bastard?

That was a question he wanted answered. He then stared at the next name which was Yakushi Kabuto. Yamada scowled a little at the name and quickly moved on to the last name.

Uchiha Sasuke, another name he wasn't too found off. Perhaps he was the one that had killed Orochimaru.

Shaking his head to stop his train of thought, Yamada bit his finger and wrote his name into the scroll. When he was done he did the necessary handseals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted and the familiar large puff of smoke appeared underneath him. When the smoke disappeared it revealed the huge form of Manda, also known as the boss of the snake summons.

"**Who dares summon me?" **Manda hissed out as he looked around. Yamada jumped down from Manda's head and landed in the sand in front of him.

Manda looked at Yamada for the longest of time before he hissed. **"Who are you and how dare you summon me?"** The snake boss asked angrily.

"I am your new summoner." Yamada stated simply with his arms crossed over his chest. **"And what makes you think you're worthy enough to summon me?"** Manda asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"The fact that I'm the last of the clan you're originally serving." Yamada replied with a stern voice. Manda's eyes widened and he looked at Yamada in disbelief.

"**You don't mean…"** Manda started. "Yep, you're looking at one of the last surviving members of the Hayato clan." Yamada said. Manda once again narrowed his eyes.** "Prove it."** Was all he said.

Yamada nodded and bit his thumb once more. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted for the second time that night, but this time the giant form of a chimera appeared.

"**K-Kaze-sama, Kasai-sama, Chikyuu-sama and Kaminari-sama?"** The snake stated as he stared up at the chimera in awe. **"Yamada, to what do I owe the pleasure?"** Kaze asked as he looked at his summoner.

"I am just trying to convince Manda here that I am actually from the Hayato clan." Yamada stated simply. First then did the four head's notice Manda in front of them.

"**Ah… Manda… long time no see."** Kaminari hissed as he looked at the other snake. Manda could only stare in awe at the beast in front of him.

The snake summon suddenly felt fear creeping up on him. He had been disloyal towards the Hayato clan and could be punished if the head of the clan chose to.

"**Yamada what shall be done here?"** Kaze asked with narrowed eyes glaring at Manda. Yamada looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"**You see, Yamada-sama. When a summon has been disloyal to the Hayato clan the clan head can punish the boss summon. It has always been a rule in your clan."** Chikyuu explained.

Yamada rubbed his chin for a minute in thought. "Before I give you your punishment I want to ask you a question. Your answer will decide how sever the punishment will be." Yamada said and Manda nodded nervously.

"Are you able to remove names from the summoning contract?" The teenager asked. **"Yes, we snakes aren't as noble as many other summons. We don't ask for the summoner's acceptance before we remove their name like the toads or the dragons."** Manda answered.

"Then I want you to remove the two other names on this contract. The snake summon shall belong completely to the Hayato clan again." Yamada stated

Manda nodded and mumbled something about never liking the emo kid anyways before he bit down on the names with his fangs. Sasuke's name was immediately crossed over, however, Kabuto's name started to glow before the glow faded.

"Why isn't the name crossed out?" Yamada asked suspiciously. Manda blinked a couple of times before he sighed. **"It seems that this one has done something to be eternally bound to the contract which means I can't remove him. The only way to do it now is to kill him."** Manda stated.

"I see…" Yamada said as worry quickly flashed across his face, but was just as quickly concealed. "Well, since you did as I asked I will not give you a severe punishment, however, you didn't manage to remove both names so you will not be left without punishment."

"You will from this day on step down as boss summon and let the next one in line take over." Yamada said. Manda's eyes widened in anger and he was about to voice his displeasure, but one glare from Kaze shut him up.

"You are also to tell your people that if you are summoned by Kabuto you will not help him. No matter what."

"**As you wish Hayato Yamada." **Manda said somewhat angrily before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "You can go as well. I have some sleep to catch up on." Yamada said. Kaze nodded and the chimera disappeared in a puff of smoke

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

After that night the Mei left back towards Kirigakure meanwhile Yamada, Naruto and Misaki headed towards the closest minor nation which was Kawa no Kuni.

They spent three days getting to Kawa since they now traveled at a very slow rate and they took enough time to train a couple of hours a day after they made camp and before they left every morning.

Takumi was the name of the city that was named the capital in this land. Since Kawa no Kuni had their own hidden village they were handed a modified version of the treaty that was handed to Yu no Kuni and Nami no Kuni. However, the daimyo did not react the way Yamada thought he would.

_Flashback_

"_This proposal is very interesting indeed." The daimyo said as he looked over the treaty. "However..." He said as he stood from his desk._

"_I have told every major nation this and I'll tell you the same. I don't want anything to do with the five great shinobi nations. None of them helped us when we needed help and we are merely repaying the favor."_

"_Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" Yamada asked. The daimyo rubbed his chin in thought for a second while studying the young man in front of him._

"_No, however… I will allow your country's trade to go through our land." He said somewhat hesitantly. Yamada felt relief when the daimyo said this. This meant that they could trade with Suna by sea and not have to go through Hi no Kuni,_

"_Thank you daimyo-sama." Yamada said with a bow. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing._

_As Yamada exited the palace he was met with Naruto and Misaki who was looking extremely bored. "How did it go?" Naruto asked as he noticed Yamada. "Could have gone better…" Yamada said with a sigh._

"_We got permission to trade through their country, but that's about it." Yamada continued. He then looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was still very low in the sky which meant it was still early._

"_We will begin walking towards the next country right away. We will probably make it to the border by noon." He said. Naruto whined since he was tired of walking and Misaki wasn't doing any better._

"_Suck it up you two or I might increase the weight on your gravity seals." Yamada said and smirked when the two speed up their pace._

_Flashback end_

As Yamada said they made it to the border by noon. They were now on their way across the border over to the land that housed Amegakure no Sato.

The name of the land had remained unknown, but people preferably stayed away from it. Yamada had no intentions of visiting Amegakure since he didn't know much about it or who their leader was.

His plan was to cross straight through the country and onwards to the land that was said to house another hidden village. It was called Ishigakure although it was just a rumor.

Yamada himself highly doubted the village existed, but it was worth a shot. Just as they were about to cross the border from Kawa no Kuni Yamada stopped and stared into the air.

"Yamada, what's wrong?" Naruto asked as he stopped his conversation with Misaki. Yamada's eyes narrowed under his hood before he turned around and looked back the way they were just walking.

"There are two powerful chakra signatures approaching." Yamada stated as his sharingan activated. Naruto and Misaki immediately tensed and put their guard up.

"Go and hide in the trees. If I give you the signal to jump out then do so. The same goes if I give you the signal to attack." Yamada said and both nodded before they jumped into the trees.

Not long after did two dots appear in the distance. Using his sharingan, Yamada was easily able to see who it was. A somewhat wicked grin spread across his face and he deactivated his sharingan.

He waited until the two stopped in front of him. The first one was a lean-built man of average height and in Yamada's age group. He had straight white hair with a light-blue tint to it, purple eyes, and he had pointed teeth. He wore a purple, sleeveless shirt with blue pants, sandals and a belt.

The other one had black hair and was a tad bit shorter than the first one. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and which was open at the torso. He wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees along with black arm guards that covered his forearms. He also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in which he carried a sword.

"Fancy meeting you here, Uchiha Sasuke." Yamada said in a somewhat amused tone. "Are you the Mist shinobi that took the sword of Momochi Zabuza?" Sasuke asked getting straight to the case.

"And what if I am?" Yamada asked with a raised eyebrow although it couldn't be seen because of the hood. "Hand it over." Sasuke demanded.

Yamada snorted and leaned back against a tree. "And what if I don't?" Yamada asked with amusement clear in his voice. He was really enjoying messing with the Uchiha.

"Then you will be eliminated." Sasuke said as his eyes turned blood red. Silence ranged between the three. Yamada and Sasuke was locked in a staring contest, well at least Sasuke thought so, but he was just staring into darkness so it was hard to tell.

After a while Yamada burst out laughing. The man with shark teeth looked at him funnily while Sasuke's expression didn't change.

"That was a good one." Yamada said as he regained his breath. Then an idea popped into his mind. "Hey what happened to Orochimaru? I don't believe for a second that he just let you go and I am just assuming that that's where you ended up." Yamada stated.

"Sasuke here killed him." The taller man said and Yamada's eyes widened slightly. "Impressive… I would have, of course, liked to kill him myself but I suppose as long as he is gone from this world." Yamada muttered as he scratched his chin. "Enough chatting." Sasuke said as his sharingan activated.

"You will hand over the sword." He said as he looked Yamada straight in the eye. Several minutes past and nothing happened. "Your genjutsu won't work on me." Yamada said and Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.

Yamada then looked up again and his own eyes where now red with tree tomoes. Sasuke was shocked for a minute, but quickly composed himself "How do you have the sharingan?" Sasuke seethed angrily after he recovered from the shock.

"Let's just say I… acquired them from your brother." Yamada said mysteriously. Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more and he was now leaking killer intent.

"Did you kill him?" He asked dangerously, as if daring him to say yes. "Keep your panties on, he is still alive." Yamada said which earned a snort of laughter from the shark like man.

Yamada looked at him for a moment. "You look familiar, have I tried to kill you before?" Yamada asked. "Don't think you have. I have been trapped by Orochimaru for a long time. The name is Hōzuki Suigetsu." Suigetsu said.

"Ah… I knew you looked familiar. Your brother was one of the seven swordsmen of the mist." Yamada said in realization. "That's right!" Suigetsu said with a hint of pride.

"Is that why you want the sword?" Yamada asked as a plan was taking form in his head. "Yes, I want to gather all the seven swords and re-create the seven swordsmen." The shark like man said.

Yamada chuckled and shook his head weakly. "Sorry, but that has already been done by the Godaime Mizukage. That is in fact the reason I am tracking down the swords." Yamada said and Suigetsu's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "You heard me; I'm sure if you went to Kirigakure and convinced the Mizukage you could probably join." Yamada said.

"Pfft, I don't want to join! I want to be their leader." Suigetsu said in a boisterous tone. "Well, then you have to beat the current leader after you join." Yamada said.

If everything worked out according to plan then Suigetsu would join kiri and bring another strong swordsman into its ranks. "You know I could probably place in a good word for you with the Mizukage." Yamada said and that was the last straw.

"Sorry Sasuke, but this is too good to pass up." Suigetsu said as he stepped away from the Uchiha. Sasuke showed no visible emotions to the act.

"I will be heading for kiri then." The shark like man said before he took off running in Kiri's direction.

"Whatever, this was a waste of time anyways." Sasuke said as he turned away and started walking. "Wait a second there Uchiha. I have something you might be interested in." Yamada said as he pulled out a scroll.

He threw it at Sasuke who caught it midair. "What is this?" He asked. "Open it and you will find out." Yamada replied. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and slowly opened the scroll.

The first thing he noticed was the official Hokage stamp. The next was a fully worded mission report which was filled out by someone that made Sasuke's eyes widen.

Uchiha Itachi…

It was a report on the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Yamada had found this document in the forbidden part of Konoha's library.

Sasuke read through the document several times just to make sure he read right. His usually stoic appearance was now the one of shock.

"This can't be true! You are lying to me!" Sasuke shouted and charged at Yamada in blind rage. Yamada easily avoided Sasuke before he spoke again.

"Just keep telling yourself that. However, there is no way I could copy the official Hokage stamp." Yamada said as he turned to walk away. The two in the trees that had seen it all followed him via the trees.

"If you still don't believe me then track down Itachi and ask him yourself." Yamada continued before he started walking.

When he came out of view of the Uchiha, Naruto and Misaki jumped down from a nearby tree. "What did you give him?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Something that will direct his fury against Konoha if everything goes as planned." Yamada replied. "Why did you do that? We have friends in Konoha!" Naruto shouted angrily.

A second later Yamada had him slammed against a tree. "Naruto I am going to tell you something you will do well in remembering. To me Kirigakure comes first no matter what." Yamada said before he let go of Naruto's shirt and continued to walk down the path.

"That doesn't make it right!" Naruto shouted. Yamada stopped in his walk and turned back to Naruto. "Honestly Naruto… I don't care." Yamada said with a voice that was void of emotions.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_One week later in Sunagakure_

"Kazekage-sama we can't wait any longer. You have to answer Konoha now." A council man of Suna said. Gaara sighed and closed his eyes.

His council was basically begging him to accept Konoha's proposal. It was understandable since they were only thinking of the wellbeing of the village.

However, Gaara had to think about himself as well. It was his own happiness he would be sacrificing and his own freedom to choose his own wife.

He had decided long ago that it was hard being a kage, but this was just absurd. He opened his eyes again and saw the whole council staring at him in anticipation.

"Fine, send word to Konoha and say that I accept their proposal." Gaara said finally giving in. "You did the right choice, Kazekage-sama." One of the council members said before the meeting was adjourned.

"Are you sure about this?" Temari asked as she placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "I don't have a choice. The wellbeing of the village must come before my own." Gaara stated.

"But still… it will be a loveless marriage. Are you sure you can live with that?" Temari asked. There was silence for a while before Gaara spoke again.

"I have lived twelve years without love… I am sure I can endure this." He said before he disappeared through his office doors. Temari visibly flinched at his words and slowly walked away.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Naruto refused to talk to Yamada for the rest of the trip through Amegakure's land. The mood in the group had dropped drastically and there was a tension in the air.

They had now entered the land where this hidden village was supposed to be. They were looking for any signs of the village, but to no avail.

They had now spent two weeks looking for the village and were just about to give up. That is until they noticed another group with hitai ates. The symbol the shinobi wore was something Yamada had never seen before.

"I think we might be onto something." Yamada said. The three jumped on top of a nearby rooftop and followed the ninja.

They were eventually led to a small town outside of the village they had just been in. it was somewhat disappointing since they wanted to find the hidden village.

"I guess they don't have a ninja village here after all." Misaki said in a tired tone. "I guess you're right. Come on, we can spend the night in this town." Yamada said.

They jumped down from the roof and were immediately surrounded by a good amount of shinobi. "Kiri shinobi, state your purpose of being in the glorious Ishigakure." One of the shinobi asked.

Yamada looked around casually before he turned back to the man. "Really? This is a ninja village?" He asked somewhat disbelievingly.

"Of course it is! What did you think it was?" Another shinobi shouted in anger. "To me it just looks like a normal small town." Yamada stated simply.

"Anyways we actually came looking for this village." Yamada said changing the subject. "And why is that?" The first shinobi asked casually.

"We have a proposition for your leader. You see Kirigakure is looking for allies and would be honored for you to ally with us." Yamada explained. "Yeah right, go back where you came from!" Another shinobi shouted.

"Silence!" Someone shouted from behind the group of shinobi. The group parted to show a man in his late thirties. He was dressed in armor that was last seen in the third great shinobi war and had long green hair that reached his waist.

"I apologize for my shinobi's rudeness. They are having a hard time trusting shinobi from other villages." The man said as he walked up to the trio.

"It's all right, I understand." Yamada said as he shook the man's hand. "The name is Hayato Yamada." Yamada said. "Masato Ishimaru." The man answered.

"Now what was that about a proposition?"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Well, that wraps up this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

As for the question I asked last week I have decided that I will finish on this fic before I begin any new ones. Don't really have anything else to say here so…

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	8. Chapter 7: Ishigakure

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

tHe ultimate demon dragon:

It makes me glad that you're so enthusiastic! :D

:

That is indeed a big request and thank you for the compliment. I would have no problems with making a bleach fic if not for the fact that I haven't seen the anime or read the manga and I don't really know much about it in general. I could possibly get to it, but it will take a very long time to watch the three hundred episodes. Since you are the first one to request something I will try to do it, but I don't think I can promise anything. Really sorry if this answer isn't satisfying, but I have a lot on my mind outside of fanfiction as well.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"You have probably already noticed this, but our village isn't really doing that great." Ishimaru said while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Indeed we have." Yamada muttered as he looked around. He was currently sitting in a makeshift office that was located inside Ishimaru's house.

"So Masato-san, tell me about the situation." Yamada said. Ishimaru suddenly adapted a serious expression on his face. "First you need to promise me that Kiri will help us out." He said seriously.

'_Well that was kind of bold of him…'_ Yamada thought with amusement. "I can't promise anything right now. I need to know about the situation because if it is as bad as I think it is then I need the information to persuading the Mizukage." Yamada stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

Ishimaru sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Very well, I don't really have much of a choice." He said with a nod. "When this village was founded it did not have a very smooth start." The village leader started.

"We were not supported by the daimyo, but we still went on without his approval. This turned out to be a grave mistake since the daimyo didn't like to be disobeyed.

He sent us our last warning which we ignored and now we are in the middle of a civil war, on the losing side might I add." The green haired man explained.

"It is quite a predicament you find yourself in." Yamada said with a serious expression. "Almost makes me wonder why we shouldn't just help the daimyo instead." He continued.

He was trying to milk as much information as possible from the green haired man in front of him. It was needed, but mostly Yamada was just curious.

Ishimaru adapted a murderous expression on his face. "Because that man is evil." He said with venom in his voice. Yamada lifted an eyebrow under his hood. "Please elaborate." He said.

"His reign started when I was just a little boy of eight years old. A few months after he took over the taxes were doubled and he even allowed slavery.

A few months after that my father couldn't pay the bill and my mother was sold as a slave because of it." The older man said and the pain in his voice was very obvious.

"My father tried to get her back and was killed by the daimyo's forces. After I found out what happened I left for Tsuchi no Kuni (Land of earth) in hope of a better life.

I was then picked up by some ninja from Iwagakure and was trained in the ninja way for a long time. When I rounded twenty five I left Iwa to explore the rest of the shinobi world.

I only returned here one year ago when I was 37 years old. I was reminded of what a cruel fate I had left this country in. that was when I decided to make this hidden village.

I wanted to make a place where people could come to get away from the tyranny of the daimyo, a place where they could be free and perhaps one day we could free the rest of this land." The thirty eight year old man said.

Yamada thought over the older man's words for the longest of time. "And what would Kirigakure gain should we help you win?" Yamada asked after a while.

"You will gain a noble ally which will never back down from a fight." Ishimaru said. If the green haired man could see Yamada's face then he would only see disappointment.

"That isn't very beneficial. No offense to your village, but you wouldn't be of much help if we went to war." Yamada said before he pulled out another copy of the deal he had made in Yu no Kuni.

"This is what I propose. You can take it and we will help or you can refuse and we will leave. The choice is up to you." Yamada said. Ishimaru opened the scroll slowly and looked over the content.

"Will this take effect immediately?" He asked as he read through it for a second time. "No, it will only take effect if and when we stop this money loving daimyo of yours." Yamada replied.

"Well we are kind of desperate." The green haired man said with a sigh. He quickly signed the contract and gave it back to Yamada.

"Great, I will send word to Mizukage-sama immediately. Then we will have to wait for her approval before we do anything." Yamada said. "So she will send help?" Ishimaru asked with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

"Unfortunately any help she sends will arrive too late, but me and my two companions should be more than enough help." Yamada said. "Really?" Ishimaru asked with amusement. He obviously didn't believe Yamada.

"Yes well Naruto is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and Misaki is the Jinchuuriki of the Gobi." Yamada stated as if it was nothing. Ishimaru looked at him for the longest of time as if he was crazy.

"Seems like we might actually stand a chance." He muttered which earned him a chuckle from Yamada. "Now about the location of this so called village of yours…"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

'_Could it be true… could Itachi really have done that for the sake of the village?'_ Sasuke asked himself as he wandered across the water. Several emotions were swirling inside of him as he looked at the scroll still in his hand.

If it was true and Itachi had done it for the good of the village, then why? Why did he place the village before the clan? Several other questions where swimming around in his head as he made his way towards his destination.

Then and there he decided to find Itachi and ask him himself. If anyone knew it had to be the man who did the deed. With that in mind he focused on Orochimaru's southern base which appeared over the horizon.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two weeks earlier_

"**Mizukage-sama, I have another message from Yamada-sama." **A small dragon said from the window in her office. Mei was somewhat startled when the dragon landed in her window, but quickly composed herself.

She made her way to the window and untied the scroll from around the dragon's neck. The dragon, as always, disappeared in a puff of smoke the moment the scroll was loose.

Her eyes quickly scanned through the content and they widened slightly when she read the name Hōzuki. "I thought that clan was extinct." She mumbled to herself in awe.

Yamada had found the last member of an extinct clan. Her eyes widened once again when she read about Orochimaru's supposed death.

She summoned another one of her ANBU who appeared in front of her immediately. "Bring word to the gate guards that if a man named Suigetsu Hōzuki arrives he is to be lead to my office straight away." She said in a commanding tone.

The ANBU did a quick salute before he disappeared in the same way the one before him did. With a tired sigh Mei got to her feet.

She decided that now was a good time to visit a certain prisoner. She immediately made her way to the prison and found the right cell.

"Made up your mind yet?" She asked the blue haired woman in front of her. "No and it didn't help that you placed me in a prison cell." Guren snapped from where she was sitting on the bed.

"Well, sorry, but you are treated as any other prisoner. We have other people who need treatment at the hospital and we couldn't just let you walk free now could we." Mei explained with a slight hint of irritation.

Silence followed after those words. The only thing that could be heard was the noise from the other prisoners.

After a couple of minutes Mei sighed and turned to walk away. "I'll check up on you tomorrow as well." She said. She turned and began walking down the hallway before she remembered something.

She turned around and walked back to the cell. "By the way we got some news about Orochimaru. Apparently he has been killed by Sasuke Uchiha." She said, but she didn't miss the shocked expression on Guren's face.

Mei then turned around and started walking away. Guren was being slowly swayed to their side and she couldn't help, but to feel proud of the fact.

_Present time_

"**Mizukage-sama."** A gruff voice said waking Mei immediately. She jumped over her desk and got into a defensive position, ready to fight of any attackers.

A small cough brought her attention to the window where a miniature dragon was waiting for her. She chuckled weakly in embarrassment before she walked over to the summon.

"**I have another message from Yamada-sama."** The dragon said as it gestured to the scroll tied to its neck. Mei untied the scroll and the dragon disappeared.

"I wonder what it is this time." She said somewhat reluctantly. Every time he sent her a scroll it always meant more paperwork for her. Sure he was attractive, but didn't the guy ever take a break?

She opened the scroll and read through it, a small frown appeared on her face. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the scroll on her desk.

This was very risky, that was for sure. However, if it succeeded it would mean another alliance. She signed the scroll somewhat hesitantly before she sent it to the daimyo.

'_You are playing a risky game, Yamada-kun. I do hope you know what you're doing.' _She thought before she once again headed towards the prison.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Gaara was standing calmly at the gates of Suna, beside him stood Temari along with Baki and the council. He was waiting for a convoy from Konoha which contained his future bride.

They were set to arrive today and according to the scroll Gaara received the whole main branch of the Hyuga clan would arrive as well. A representative from the Hokage would come as well. He sighed for the hundredth time that day.

'_What have I gotten myself into?'_ He thought bitterly. "I can see the convoy arriving Kazekage-sama!" The outlook at the top of the wall shouted.

A few minutes later they could all see it, beautifully decorated carriages that were pulled by camels. The reason for this was that horses would have died from the heat in the desert.

The Hyuga clan hadn't spared a single penny it seemed. When they arrived the doors on the carriages opened and the Hyugas climbed out. Gaara noticed the Hokage's representative as Shizune, the Hokage's personal assistant.

Gaara recognized his future bride as one of the first ones to come out of the carriage in the front. He had to admit that she was indeed very attractive.

"Welcome to Sunagakure." He said with a small bow which the visitors mimicked. "We are delighted to be here, Kazekage-sama." The leader of the Hyuga clan said. If Gaara remembered correctly then his name was Hiashi.

Gaara's eyes flickered to Hinata for a second to see her expression. He wasn't very shocked when he saw the neutrality on her face; however, in her eyes he noticed an emotion he was very familiar with, sadness.

"Shall we head inside the village?" Hiashi asked breaking Gaara out of his musings. "Yes, I have already arranged hotel rooms for everyone in your convoy. Please follow me." Gaara said as he turned and walked into the village.

As they walked through the village Hiashi walked up on Gaara's side. "Kazekage-sama, I think it would be best if my daughter spent the night at your mansion." He said bluntly.

"And why do you think that?" Gaara asked with a raised eyebrow. "So that the two of you could get to know each other. I may be the one that proposed this idea, but I am still her father. The least I can do is to make sure she is somewhat happy." Hiashi said.

Gaara, however, narrowed his eyes slightly at the pale-eyed man. He saw straight through the lie that Hiashi was throwing in his face. The only thing Hiashi wanted was to make sure Gaara didn't withdraw from the deal.

However, he was not about to call out the clan head on his lie since that would look bad for Suna. "Very well." He said and silence followed after an approving nod from Hiashi.

_Later that day_

Hinata was now following Gaara through the long halls of the Kazekage tower. He was apparently leading her to the room she would sleep in.

She could only guess he was leading her to his own room so that he could try to force himself upon her later that night. But it didn't matter anyways. She could refuse, but that would only hold until after the marriage and then he could do whatever he wanted with her.

They stopped outside a room door and Gaara turned to her. "This will be your room. My room is just down the hallway. If you need anything just ask." He told her.

She looked a little shocked when her assumptions turned out wrong, but quickly schooled her features. She nodded and said a small 'thank you' before she reached for the doorknob.

"Wait." Gaara said with a sigh and Hinata stiffened. "I know you don't really want to be here." He said and she turned to him with surprise written all over her face.

"I know about your and Naruto's former relationship and I understand if you still love him. That's why I am going to give you a choice." He said. Hinata looked at him quizzically, but decided not to ask any questions before he was done explaining.

"I can arrange for you transport to Kirigakure where I know Naruto lives. I will tell the council and your clan that you escaped on the middle of the night.

The other option is to marry me and see if things can work out between us. I will treat you fairly and won't push you to do anything." Gaara finished and Hinata was left speechless.

"A-are you serious?" she asked in a disbelieving voice. Gaara only nodded and waited for a response. "Why?" She asked next "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I consider Naruto my friend and I would not hurt him intentionally. He was the first friend I ever had." Gaara replied seriously. Silence followed that statement as Hinata looked like she was deep in thought.

"I can see you need time to think about this so I will leave you alone. I will expect an answer at least two days before the wedding." He said as he realized he wasn't getting an answer.

Hinata only nodded dumbly before walking inside her room and closing the door. The red headed kage had basically given her an impossible choice.

If she would choose to stay and marry him she would make her clan and village proud, however, if she left for Kiri she would at least ensure her own happiness.

But could she even place her own happiness first? Could she betray the people that raised her and her friends in Konoha? Sure, her father hadn't really cared for her at all in her childhood, but her mother had taken care of her.

And if she left then the shaken relationship between Kirigakure and Konoha would be even closer to the breaking point… but she couldn't shake the thought of living happily with Naruto for the rest of her life.

While she thought she had subconsciously made herself ready for bed. As she laid down on the matrass and stared up at the roof she realized one annoying fact… she wouldn't get much sleep that night.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

She often came here. It was a place that brought back joyful memories and it always helped when she was depressed. She stretched and felt the grass tickling against her bare arms while she was watching the stars blink at her from above.

Today Hinata had left to meet her future husband. Tenten had desperately tried to convince Tsunade about making her the Hokage's representative, but Tsunade didn't even consider it for a second.

She knew the brown haired girl only wanted to come along so that she would have a chance to assassinate Hiashi. Tenten had pouted slightly when her master brought that up, but she didn't deny it.

That was what caused her depression thus the reason for her being here now looking at the stars. To think that her best friend was being forced to marry for the good of the village was horrifying.

Tsunade had to hold her back from killing Hiashi when she heard about it from Hinata. She even had to be sedated and was forbidden to ever step close to the Hyuga compound ever again.

That was a problem which both she and her sensei shared. Both had very short temper, well Tsunade more so than Tenten but still.

She yawned loudly as her thoughts began to drift. She had been visited by her now former team a couple of days back. Neji had been stoic as ever even though he sent her lust filled glances now and then.

Lee and Gai had been shouting about the springtime of youth and how much they missed doing missions with her. To be honest she missed doing missions with them as well, but due to her little girl she was more tied down now.

She couldn't be as active as she used to before the baby came and that annoyed her slightly. But she still didn't want her skills to grow dull and trained full force every day.

She turned her head to the left and looked upon the small waterfall that entered the lake. A small smile graced her lips as a fond memory entered her head.

_Flashback_

"_You already made chunin?" Tenten asked in surprise. Her boyfriend, who was standing in front of her with a proud smile on his face, nodded. "Yep, since I'm not on a team they made a special test for me to take." Yamada replied._

"_That's great." Tenten shouted before she hugged him lovingly to which Yamada responded without hesitation. Tenten suddenly noticed that they were standing on the edge of the small waterfall and an evil glint entered her eye._

_The water was pretty deep around the waterfall thus breeding life into her evil idea._

"_Well, I want to give you a gift as congratulation. Close your eyes." She said with a small smirk. Yamada raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told completely overlooking how evil her smirk looked._

_A couple of seconds later he was pushed into the water, head first. When he resurfaced again he found his girlfriend lying on the ground laughing loudly._

"_So you think this is funny?" Yamada asked. Tenten regained her breath and shook her head a smirk on her lips. "No, I think it's hilarious." She said in a teasing tone._

"_Well then I'm sure you will find this equally funny." Yamada said before a tree root pushed her gently. She lost her balance and joined Yamada in the water who was now laughing as well._

_She resurfaced again and looked at the place she had been standing. When she saw how he pushed her she pouted slightly. "No fair." She said and turned her head to the side._

_They made their way over to land and Tenten was still pouting. "Don't be like that. Smile… or even better laugh!" Yamada said as he started tickling her. Tenten couldn't help it as she burst out into laughter soon after and collapsed onto the grass._

"_S… stop it… please!" Tenten shouted between laughs. Yamada eventually stopped so that she could catch her breath. When they had both calmed down they snuggled closer together and stayed like that for the rest of the day._

_Flashback end_

That was back when she still was only fourteen. An easier time when she didn't have to search across the entire planet just to find a trace of her boyfriend.

She really wanted things to go back to the way they were before Yamada left. Somewhere deep inside she knew it was most likely never going to happen, but she could at least hope.

After she yawned another time she decided it probably was time to go back home to sleep. She stopped in her tracks when she thought that over.

It was kind of funny that she now thought of the Hokage mansion as her home. It took her longer than she expected, but she eventually became comfortable enough to call it her home.

Her thoughts drifted back to her best friend as she neared the mansion. She only hoped that the girl would get a more caring family in Suna then what she had in Konoha.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two days later_

"Tell me again why we packed up and left the Ishigakure." Ishimaru said as they walked through the forest. Yamada sighed for the hundredth time that day.

Even if he looked old and wise, Ishimaru had no idea on how to build or even run a hidden village. "Because we are relocating it. It is called a hidden village because it is supposed to be hidden and you built it in the open." Yamada explained.

"But still, to build a completely new village will take months if not years." The green haired man countered. "Oh, don't say that. You will be surprised by how fast things can be done." Yamada said somewhat cryptically.

Ishimaru raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the matter further. After a while they arrived in a large valley. "This place should do." Yamada said.

The hundreds of shinobi behind them sighed in relief and collapsed on the ground, totally exhausted. "It's too bad training your shinobi wasn't a part of the deal we made." Yamada said with an amused expression.

He had long since discarded his hood and mask. "But then again we have been walking for two days straight." Said with a thoughtful expression before he shrugged it off.

His expression then turned serious for a minute as he turned to the green haired man. "I'm about to do something that is going to take a hell of a lot of chakra out of me so I'll need you to support me if I collapse." He explained.

"And will you care to explain what it is you're about to do?" Ishimaru asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nah, it will ruin the surprise." Yamada said with a smirk.

He then clasped his hands together in the tiger seal and started focusing his chakra. A minute later hundreds of wooden poles shot out of the ground all over the valley.

They all formed decent sized houses and buildings. This continued until there was a whole village created before them. The whole mass of shinobi and civilians stared in awe at the skill of their newfound alley.

Even large wooden walls rose around the buildings which encircled the village completely. When everything was done Yamada fell to his knees, but didn't fall further since he was caught by Ishimaru.

"So this is what you meant." The green haired man said in awe as he looked at the giant gates in front of him. "Yeah, sorry if it looks a bit plane. I don't know how to do painting." Yamada joked between deep breaths.

"Yamada! Are you alright?" Naruto shouted as he ran through the crowd followed by an equally concerned Misaki. Yamada chuckled dryly. "First time you speak to me in three weeks and all it took was to almost commit suicide." Yamada joked again. He was really hitting it today.

"Stop joking around and answer the question!" Misaki shouted. "Okay, okay I'm fine see? Jeez…" Yamada said as he waved his arms defensively.

He was actually physically fine he was just very low on chakra. Misaki breathed a sigh of relief before she started hitting him over and over again demanding that he wasn't going to worry her like that again.

This was one of the few times Yamada was reminded of the fact that Misaki was still only 10 years old. Seeing her pout and look away angrily like any normal child her age would do was a hard reminder.

He pushed away from Ishimaru and embraced the girl in a hug. "I promise I won't worry you that much again." He whispered to her. Eventually she returned the hug and smiled brightly again.

"Not to interrupt an emotional moment… but I have a few questions for you Yamada-san." Ishimaru said somewhat awkwardly. Yamada nodded and shakily got to his feet.

"Tell your shinobi and citizens to settle in while we talk. You two go as well." He said with which Ishimaru, Naruto and Misaki complied. When they had all disappeared inside the gates Ishimaru turned to Yamada.

"So this village was made by using Mokuton. That much I can figure out, but won't it all disappear when you die?" The green haired man asked. "You make it sound like I will die in the nearest future." Yamada mumbled before he spoke up clearly.

"No it won't disappear. Only the techniques I have to regularly pump chakra into disappear which I don't do with these buildings… but I could make them disappear if I wanted to." He said the last part with a warning glance which made Ishimaru gulp.

"Point taken." He said quickly which made Yamada let out a snort of laughter. "Good now let's discuss battle strategies."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"That felt great! Not as good as Ichiraku's, but it was still good." Naruto said as he placed down the empty bowl before ordering another round of ramen.

He was sitting at a ramen stand that was just set up, eagerly awaiting his next bowl

He then got a faraway look in his eyes. _'I wonder if I ever will get to taste their ramen again.'_ He thought sadly. "Well, might as well enjoy the ramen I get. Yamada always force me to eat healthy when we're traveling." Naruto said to himself as the newly filled bowl was set in front of him.

Naruto eagerly started digging in, not noticing the cloaked stranger studying him from a distance.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"You'll do what?" Ishimaru asked in disbelief. "I'll go in alone. Like I said if we're not up against shinobi at all then it should be an easy fight. To be honest I'm surprised you're struggling." Yamada said with a shrug.

"B-but there's got to be at least three thousand men in that army. Even if they're not shinobi it will still be hard, even for you." Ishimaru countered. Yamada stopped walking for a second and adapted a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I guess you're right… oh well, I'll just take Naruto with me." The teenager said. "Only him? I think you overestimate yourself." Ishimaru said with a smirk.

"No I am not. I was a commander under the bloodline war and I know who is the most suited for such a situation. You on the other hand seem to have no experience in how to lead a war or how to lead a village in general." Yamada stated bluntly.

Ishimaru looked at Yamada in shock before he sighed in defeat. "You got me there, but how can you know who of my men is best for the job when you know nothing of their abilities." The green haired man said and smirked when Yamada face palmed.

"I really didn't think of that…" Yamada said with a sigh. "Do you have files with their skills and names in?" He asked.

"Yeah, as soon as I have my office unsealed from the sealing scrolls you can take a look at them." Ishimaru said and Yamada sighed in relief. He was just saved from several hours of paperwork.

"Well then let's get to it."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Tenten-san, there is a patient for you." A nurse said as she entered the break room. The brown haired girl groaned, but got to her feet none the less.

"What room?" She asked as she took one last sip of her water. "450." The nurse said before she disappeared through the door she came.

Tenten quickly made her way towards the assigned room and frowned when she saw who was in it. Neji was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking as stoic as ever.

"Seriously this is the fourth time this week. What is wrong with you?" She asked as she picked up the clipboard. She directed her eyes to him for a brief second and saw the smirk on his face.

"You're doing this on purpose aren't you." She stated more than asked. His smirk widened and that was the only confirmation she needed.

"I'm going to tell the others to not let you in unless you're on deaths doorstep." She grumbled and was about to leave when she felt someone grab her hand.

"No I won't go out with you." She said automatically. This had become a routine for the two of them, he would try to ask her out and she would refuse.

"Why not?" Neji asked with a barely noticeable frown on his face. "Like I told you before, I have my duties at the hospital and for Tsunade-sama to worry about and I have a daughter if you didn't remember." Tenten snapped angrily.

That was actually true. She was kept busy be her shifts in the hospital and when she wasn't working there then she was helping her sensei. Any free time left at all was used to spend with Kumiko.

"I don't understand why you keep that little filthy thing anyways. You don't even know who the father is." Neji mumbled. When Tenten finally came out of hiding Tsunade had come up with the cover story that she had slept with someone on a mission thus solving why the baby was born.

Tenten didn't like this cover story at all, but had to go with it for obvious reasons. What she never tolerated, however, was when someone offended her little girl.

"That's it! I'm done even talking to you! Approach me again and I can assure you they will have to lock me up for killing a fellow shinobi!" Tenten shouted in his face.

"And the reason I keep 'that filthy little thing' as you refer to it is because I have a heart and I care for her." She said before she slammed the door shut, almost breaking it in her anger.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Guren had a lot on her mind the past two weeks. Orochimaru had been killed which meant that if she ever tried to escape she would have nowhere to go.

Right now her best option was to join Kiri and hopefully get a shot at killing Sasuke. That was her only goal at this moment. She could be working for anyone as long as it meant she would get her revenge.

However, she was not about to just admit her defeat to the Mizukage. She wanted to keep what little pride she had left and which was the reason she hadn't joined kiri yet.

She didn't know how much longer she could go on though. The living conditions where horrible to say the least. They only got one meal per day and it was rarely more than a couple of slices of bread and some water, there were no beds so they were forced to sleep on the concrete floor and every time they were let out of their sells the other prisoners would always try to take her down or try to rape her.

She wasn't far off from admitting her defeat, especially if this continued.

Something she really wondered about was why they wanted her as their shinobi. She only had one arm and thus couldn't do jutsus anymore so why would they want a useless kunoichi?

Maybe they just wanted her to have a baby so that the bloodline could keep living. If that was the case then she would just spit in their faces. There was no way in hell she would become a breeding stock.

She was brought out of her thoughts when a scraping sound echoed in her cell. She noticed the daily tray of food was shoved inside her cell. Before it stopped the tray somehow flipped, leaving the food in the dirt and the water spilled out.

That seemed to be the last straw for Guren as she stumbled over to the bars. "Guard… I want to speak to… the Mizukage." She said weakly. The guard, who had already been told to get Mei should Guren ask for it, did as she told him.

Ten minutes later Mei appeared on the other side of the cell with an impatient look. "I have a lot to do so this better be important." She said in a completely neutral voice.

"You win… I will join Kirigakure." Guren said somewhat reluctantly. Mei's features softened as a warm smile spread across her face. "But on one condition." The blue haired woman continued.

She looked the Mizukage straight in the eye and the red head had to take a step back because of all the hatred her eyes contained. "I want my revenge on Sasuke Uchiha."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"How are you holding up?" Yamada asked as he neared his friend. Naruto looked at Yamada before he refocused on his training.

Yamada frowned and walked closer. "You aren't still angry about that are you." He asked as he stood in front of the blond.

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm just a little angry to find out he's still alive." The blond replied. "If I just knew he was alive from the beginning I wouldn't have had to run away from my own execution."

Yamada could sense the anger boiling up in the blond and was about to react, but hesitated when the anger receded. "But on the other hand… I have been treated better in Kiri on a few days then I ever was in Konoha."

"So he kind of did me a favor, although I do wish Hinata could come with me." He said sadly. Yamada didn't really know how to respond to that and instead decided to change the topic.

"You will be on the strike team that is going to move out tomorrow. We are going straight for the capital." Yamada said. Naruto brightened once he heard there was finally going to be some action.

"Yes! Finally I can show how awesome I am!" Naruto shouted with a fist pump. Yamada only chuckled and patted his friend on the shoulder. He knew Naruto was just hiding his sadness, but he was never good at comforting.

"That's the spirit! Now show me the progress on the jutsu I showed you."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Guren had a content small smile on her face. After she was let out of the prison she was given a new set of clothes, a proper meal and a hitai ate. The hitai ate was only attained after she did an oath though.

Now she was waiting for someone who apparently was a master in one-handed seals. It surprised Guren that such a person existed, but she went along with it none the less since it meant she would be able to do jutsus again. The door opened behind her and a girl that must have been four years younger than her or more entered the room.

The black haired girl had a kind smile on her face as she bowed in front of Guren. "Good day Guren-san, my name is Yuki Haku and I will be your teacher."

Guren stared blankly at the girl in front of her before she burst into laughter. "Good one… you almost had me there." Guren said after she recovered from her laugh.

First then did she notice the serious expression on the girls face. "Wait, you're serious?" The blue haired woman asked in disbelief.

"I did not come here to joke around, Guren-san. If you don't want to learn then I will simply go back to my duties." Haku said as she turned on her heel and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" Guren shouted after her. Haku stopped and turned around. "I'm… sorry." She said through gritted teeth. She really hated that word. "I just wasn't expecting you to be so young." She continued.

Haku smiled at her and turned fully around. "It's quite alright. Now, let's begin."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"It seems your problems with this newly founded village are only growing." Said a cloaked individual. He was standing before the daimyo of Ishi no Kuni also known as the land of stone.

"What are you talking about?" The daimyo, a fat and old man, asked with a raised eyebrow. "It seems they have gained support from Kirigakure and have relocated their village to a more hidden location." The cloaked man said.

The daimyo's eyes widened in panic. "This isn't good! They are going to crush my armies. I need your help, please! I beg you." The daimyo begged as he threw himself to the floor.

The noble man's begging amused the cloaked man to no end, but he knew he had to help him. His organization still had use for the man's wealth.

Another cloaked individual walked in through the doors. "This is a very skilled shinobi. He is able to beat any regular jonin, he should be enough help." And with that the first cloaked man walked out of the room.

The daimyo turned to the only other person present in the room. "So what should I call you?" The daimyo asked. The man lifted of his hood and smiled wickedly at the fat man.

"You can call me Kirigakure no Raijin (Thunder of the hidden mist)."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Jiraiya was now following a new lead on the group called akatsuki. He was currently headed towards Amegakure to investigate a rumor he had heard about the village.

The rumor said that the akatsuki had been seen countless times in that village. It was something that seemed highly suspicious since the akatsuki members never stayed long in one place.

Jiraiya was mostly a realist, but he actually believed that he had discovered their headquarters. As he walked he came across a small town just at the border of Hi no Kuni.

Deciding to stop there for the night he booked a room at an inn and headed off towards the nearest hot spring with his trademark perverted grin on his face.

The toad sanin did not know that this would be the last hot spring he would ever visit.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** That's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed reading! I have a few things I'm gonna talk about here so get comfortable. A little short chapter and I'm sorry for that, but nobody is perfect.

First of all I am going to let you guys decide what Hinata's decision is going to be since it won't have much of an impact on the story. Just leave a review or PM me about what you think she should decide.

The second thing I wanted to talk about is more of a request. I need your help on ideas for some bloodline limits. I have looked through the Naruto wiki and I don't find many of the ones left interesting. So please help me out here. If you have any good ideas then please let me know. I will be forever grateful if you do so.¨

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	9. Chapter 8: Civil War!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

:

Wow, thanks for the help man. I really appreciate it! I had actually thought of using abilities from other anime already, but the problem is that I haven't watched that many other animes… anyways as for your last question… I don't really understand what you mean. It might just be my horrible memory that is kicking in, but I can't remember writing anything about the Rinnegan. Could you please elaborate in another review or something?

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Ok, here is the plan." Yamada said as he stood before the crowd of shinobi. Every ninja available in Ishigakure was present for the briefing on the upcoming assault on the daimyo and his forces.

The briefing was held in one of the bigger buildings in the village. They were currently all standing in a huge rectangular room with, of course, wooden walls.

"The main force will meet the daimyo's forces on the battle ground in open battle." He began which earned a lot of murmurs throughout the crowd.

"You will be holding them off while a smaller strike force consisting of me, Uzumaki Naruto and Masato-san will infiltrate the palace and take out the daimyo. The operation will take place under the cover of night. Any questions so far?" Yamada asked as he looked over the crowd.

When no one said anything he pulled out a huge map. "Our sources say that the whole army is located in this area which leaves the palace more or less unguarded.

Out Intel suggests that they will start marching tomorrow morning towards the village's previous location for an assault. On their way you will be waiting in ambush. As soon as we are done in the daimyo's palace we will come help you in your fight. When the soldiers hear of their leaders fall they might surrender. Still no questions?"

No one said a word, looking satisfied with the plan and some even looked eager to get out there. "Good, then I suggest that you all get a good night's sleep because tomorrow… you will be fighting for the freedom of your country."

The shinobi slowly began walking towards their homes, some with huge grins on their faces while others with worry in their eyes.

"Motivating them tomorrow will be your job." Yamada said as he jabbed a finger towards Ishimaru before he casually strolled away. "Why me?" Ishimaru shouted after him.

Yamada turned slightly with a deadpan look on his face. "Because you're their leader." He replied. "Right, sorry I forgot." The green haired man said while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Anyways, why did you change the plan?" The village leader asked in curiosity. "Because this plan has the most potential for success." Yamada replied before he made his way out of the area.

He walked off towards the training ground. He was going to continue training with the Hiraishin for a couple of hours before he went to sleep.

Apparently he was having a hard time mastering this one. He didn't quite understand why though, but he figured he would get it eventually.

He was having an easier time with the Rasengan, but that may be because it was a simpler technique. He had almost mastered the unfinished version; however he was going to leave the privilege of finishing the technique to Naruto. It was his father's technique after all.

As he walked he was intercepted by the very person that was occupying his thoughts. "Yamada, wait up! I have something to ask you!" Naruto shouted. Yamada turned towards the blond who stopped a couple of steps away from him while catching his breath.

"What is it Naruto? I am about to go and train." Yamada said with an impatient tone. "Great, then I'll go with you!" Naruto shouted with his trade mark foxy grin. Yamada sighed, but waved the blond along none the less.

"You see I came up with this awesome new idea! What if I combine my wind affinity with the Rasengan? Do you think it would work?" Naruto asked never losing the excitement in his voice.

Yamada thought it over for a few minutes before he slowly nodded. "It might be possible, but I don't think you should try it before we are done here." Yamada said strictly.

"Why not? I want to try it!" Naruto whined. "Because if you don't remember we have a battle to win tomorrow and I would rather have someone supervise to make sure you don't use the Kyuubi's chakra." Yamada explained and the blonde's mood darkened a little.

"Oh yeah… I guess that makes sense… so anyways, what kind of training will you be doing?" Naruto asked changing the subject. "Well I was thinking of training with my jutsus, but since you are so eager to tag along why don't we have a spar?" Yamada asked darkly with a smirk that some would say looked evil.

Naruto paled for a second before he scratched the back of his head. "Ehehe, I can't do that. I just remembered I uh… left the ramen in the oven. Yeah, that's right." Naruto said in embarrassment.

"We don't place the ramen _in_ the oven, Naruto. As far as I know we don't even have a working one in this village." Yamada stated with a hint of amusement. "T-that's not what I meant… w-what I meant was that… uhh… I got to go!" Naruto shouted and stormed down a street.

Yamada let an almost sinister chuckle escape his lips before he made his way towards the training ground. Oh it really was fun messing with people.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_The next day_

"Ok, you got your little speech ready?" Yamada asked Ishimaru. The green haired man nodded nervously. "Relax, you'll be fine." Yamada said as he patted the man's shoulder.

He took a deep breath and stepped out of the makeshift war tent, Yamada and Naruto following right behind.

The little shinobi army outside the tent went quiet the second he stepped out. They all turned their eyes to the green haired man expectantly and Yamada was almost sure he would buckle under the pressure. Ishimaru looked at the gathered shinobi nervously and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"This day will be a well-remembered day. Probably a day we will write down in our history books in the future. This is the day that we take down the tyranny that oppresses this country. This is the day we take what's ours; our freedom!"

Shouts of approval were heard along with the roaring sound of applause throughout the ranks. When the crowd settled Ishimaru spoke up once again.

"I am not going to lie to you. Many of you will be wounded… some will probably die. But we cannot let that stop us! Nobody can give you freedom! Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything! It is something we will have to take and if you're really with me on this, then you will march out there with me and take it!"

The roaring cheers could be heard louder this time as Ishimaru ended his speech. He breathed out in relief before he turned to Yamada who had come up on his side.

"Not bad if I do say so myself. I was honestly expecting you to collapse from the pressure." Yamada said with a smirk. "Yeah, that was awesome! You totally got everyone with you!" Naruto shouted in his usually eccentric mood.

"Thank you Yamada-san, Naruto-san." Ishimaru said with a small smile directed at them both. He then turned serious as he looked at the small army.

"Now let's mobilize."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"You are learning really quickly Guren-san." Haku complimented with a smile. They were currently in an open training field where Haku was helping Guren practice her one handed seals.

"Yeah whatever brat." Guren mumbled. Haku frowned and hit Guren over the head. "What the hell kid!" The blue haired woman shouted as she turned to look down at Haku with fury in her eyes.

Guren was a good few centimeters higher than Haku. The blue haired woman stood at an impressive 168 cm while Haku only reached 165 cm.

"I do have a name and I would like it better if you used it. Also if you keep this up I might ask the Mizukage for someone else to teach you." Haku said as politely as possible although she was beginning to lose her patience with the blue haired woman. Only two days of training had gone by and she was already getting on the black haired girl's nerves.

Guren rolled her eyes and mumbled something offensive under her breath before she went back to practicing. Haku shook her head with a sigh before she corrected Guren once again.

"You are doing it wrong again. You have to bend your finger a little bit more like this." The black haired girl said as she did the handseal perfectly.

After several more hours of practice Guren was able to do several of the handseals. Although she couldn't do them very fast yet it was still an improvement.

"It is getting late so I think that's all we will have time for today. I have to report back to Mizukage-sama." Haku said. Guren nodded and silently followed the younger girl while being deep in thought.

When they arrived at her assigned room, Guren opened the door briefly. She stopped in the middle of the door and cast a glance at the black haired girl walking down the hallway.

"Hey!" Guren shouted catching Haku's attention. The eighteen year old turned around and stared expectantly at Guren. The blue haired woman seemed to hesitate for a minute before she spoke.

"Thanks… Haku-san…" She said somewhat reluctantly. Haku looked surprised for a minute but quickly schooled her features. "It was my honor to help." She said with a soft smile.

Guren smiled a very small, barely noticeable, smile back before she closed the door behind her. Haku quickly made her way to the Mizukage's office.

She arrived in the room and quickly bowed in front of the kage. "So how did the training go today?" Mei asked while shuffling through some documents on her desk.

"She is learning very quickly, Mizukage-sama. She might be fit for duty before the end of the month." Haku informed. "That is good to hear, is there anything else?" The red head asked.

"Yes Mizukage-sama, I think she is warming up to me." Haku informed. "When we were done with today's practice and I had taken her to her room she actually thanked me." The black haired girl continued.

Mei looked surprised by the turn of events, but eventually adapted a soft smile. "This is good, but now I have other matters to attend to." Mei said before she lifted a stack of papers from her desk.

"Could you take these to Chōjūrō in the academy?" The kage asked. "He is still in the academy?" Haku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, apparently there is a lot of promising swordsmen he has to write reports about." Mei replied. Haku picked up the document and got a thankful smile from the obviously tired Mizukage.

"I think you really need a break, Mizukage-sama." Haku said softly. "You have no idea." Mei mumbled back with a dry chuckle before she spoke up.

"You are dismissed for the rest of the night when the documents are delivered." Mei said and Haku bowed before she exited the office. She walked quickly towards the academy, wanting to finish this job as quickly as possible.

It was already become dark outside and it would probably become even darker. She could feel the warm summer air hit her face as she calmly moved through the village.

They were in the in the end of June and nearing the warmth of the summer was just barley coming over Kirigakure. When she arrived at the academy she quickly made her way through the halls of the building while looking for Chōjūrō's workstation.

She found it and smiled warmly at the very tired swordsman who was sleeping with his head on the desk. She walked up to him and gently nudged him, but nothing happened.

She pushed him a little harder and nothing happened again. He apparently was a very heavy sleeper. She got irritated and pushed him completely off the chair.

She was successful in waking him up as his eyes shot open and he looked around in panic. When he noticed Haku standing there with an impatient look on her face he got a small blush on his face before he clumsily got to his feet.

"H-Haku-chan, what are you doing here?" The blue haired swordsman asked. "I came to deliver these documents from Mizukage-sama." Haku said as she handed him the stack of papers.

Chōjūrō accepted them happily and immediately sat down to go through them. "So what kind of documents are they?" Haku asked curiously. "They are reports on every single one of the potential swordsmen. I have to fill them out before Yamada-taichou returns." Chōjūrō explained.

"If you have that much time then why are you stressing yourself so much?" Haku asked in confusion. "I just want to get it done so that I can get to other things. There is a lot to do in this village." Chōjūrō said with a smile.

"It is good that you take your job so seriously. It is one of your better qualities." Haku said with a smile. Chōjūrō blushed at the praise and bent over the documents as much as possible in hope of her not noticing.

"Well I will be going now." Haku said with a wave of her hand. Chōjūrō waved back with a small smile before he tried to refocus on his work, although it was really hard when a certain black haired girl invaded his mind.

Haku made her way out of the academy and back to the mansion. An electricity cable had finally been connected to the building after much waiting.

Apparently the people who were assigned to do it had to deal with another problem before they got to it. Now she was finally able to take a shower in heated water instead of the usual cold.

She entered the door and took of her sandals before she walked deeper into the house. It was as silent as it usually was when she was completely alone.

Yumi had gone off on a mission a couple of days ago. Before she left she had been super excited about her sensei saying that her team would probably make chunin soon.

It didn't surprise Haku that much. Yumi had already turned fourteen and was at chunin level even before she made genin. Something about training under the Mizukage probably had a say in that.

She made her way over to the bathroom that had been installed three weeks ago. It was right across the hall from her room. She took a quick shower before she walked into her room.

The room was pretty plane with white walls, a neatly done bed, a small work desk of in the corner, a closet in another corner and a small bookshelf on the same wall the door was.

It was basically all she needed. In the bookshelf she kept jutsu scrolls as well as copies of her mission reports and books she liked to read.

She walked over to the closet and changed into her nightwear before she curled up under her blanket. When she closed her eyes her thoughts drifted to a certain Hayato Yamada.

'_I wonder what he is doing now.'_ She thought before she lost her fight with consciousness.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"_The ambush is set up sir."_ Said a voice over the radio. "Good when the target is in sight make contact and await further orders." Yamada replied.

He, Naruto and Ishimaru was standing hidden a couple of miles away from the daimyo's palace. They were waiting for the ambush to be sprung before they tried to sneak in.

The reason for this was that if they were caught then the army would still have a chance to turn back if they weren't already engaged in battle.

"I'm bored! Can't we just charge in?" Naruto asked while he was playing with the grass. _'Why on earth did I choose him for an infiltration mission again?' _ Yamada asked himself in his thoughts as he sighed loudly.

"No Naruto, we can't and keep your voice down. We are trying to be quiet here… and no more questions." Yamada snapped. Naruto gulped and nodded quickly. "Right sorry." The blond whispered.

Yamada quietly snuck up beside Ishimaru who was watching the palace from afar. The lights from the capital and the palace together illuminated the night sky. "Hey, seen anything new?" Yamada asked as he settled down beside him.

"Seen a couple of guards, but that's about it." The green haired man replied. Yamada raised a curious eyebrow when he heard the tone of voice Ishimaru used.

"Something bothering you?" The teenager asked and Ishimaru shrugged. "I guess… I just didn't expect on freeing my land this early. I mean with such a hastily made plan and the small forces we have… do you really believe we can do it." The green haired man asked as he turned his head towards the younger male.

Yamada was silent for a while, considering his words carefully. "As a commander I was always told to think realistically… from that point of view I would say our chances are small, but they're there.

However, if I should look from another perspective then I would say we already have won." Yamada replied. "Why is that?" Ishimaru asked curiously.

"When you held that speech earlier today I saw it in their eyes. I saw how much they wanted to fight for this country. The spirit I saw in them is the exact same one I saw in the kiri shinobi under bloodline civil war… without that will, I personally believe we wouldn't have succeeded in kiri. Only from that speech can I determine that you'll be an excellent leader."

"I see…" Ishimaru said with a thoughtful expression. They became silent for a while, just watching the palace and the city from the hill they were sitting on.

"You know… if any of the files you gave me surprised me then I would say it was yours." Yamada said after a long silence. Ishimaru raised an eyebrow with a hint of amusement.

"You mean my Kekkei Genkai?" The green haired man asked. "That is exactly what surprised me most. I didn't even believe that there existed bloodline limits out here… especially that good ones." Yamada said.

"What can I say? I was quite surprised myself when I found it out in Iwa." Ishimaru replied with a chuckle. They became silent again, just watching the guards in the palace do their normal routines.

There was a static noise from the radio and Yamada quickly lifted it. _"The target is in sight sir."_ The shinobi on the other side whispered.

"What is the distance to the target?" Yamada asked. _"500 meters sir." _Came the voice over the radio. "Wait until they are a hundred meters away before you engage." Yamada replied before he turned back to Naruto.

"Naruto, get over here." The blond reacted immediately. He jumped up into a standing position and sprinted over to the other two.

"_Target is within a hundred meters. Engaging!"_ Was shouted over the radio just as Naruto stopped in front of them. Yamada looked at the two other males.

"Looks like its ShowTime." He said with a smirk before the three jumped off into the trees. They arrive outside the palace quite quickly and silently took out the five guards.

They made their way through the halls of the palace as quietly as possible. They checked around every corner and inside every room.

After a while they came across a room that was guarded by several people. "That must be where the daimyo is hiding. We have checked everywhere else." Ishimaru said as he looked around the corner.

"How do you suggest we do this Yamada-san?" The green haired man asked. "Well, I could use the silent killing technique." Yamada said with a shrug. "However, I don't feel like wasting chakra and I think we could handle this an easier way." He said as he motioned for the chandelier that was hanging in the middle of the room.

It was also the only source of light in the entire room. Yamada drew his sword and quickly cut the cord that was keeping the chandelier in place. It crashed into the ground smashing all the lights in the same process.

"Who's there?" One of the guards shouted and Yamada could hear the trembling in his voice. The three shinobi moved swiftly and took out the guard without a sound.

Next they breached the room that was previously guarded. Yamada went in first followed by Ishimaru and Naruto who came last.

Seconds after he smashed through the door did a foot connect with his jaw which sent him skidding along the floor with a sickly crunching sound. _'Crap, I let my guard down.'_ He thought as he got into a standing position to view his attacker.

Naruto and Ishimaru appeared at his side in a burst of speed and took up defensive positions. Yamada recognized the man who was standing in front of them. He had read about him in a history book from Kirigakure.

The man had blue eyes with a darker ripple around the pupil, waist-length green hair with the top two bangs falling down on his cheeks on each side. The man wore a grey hooded mantle with three red stripes.

Under his mantle, he wore a dark-brown sleeveless vest falling to his knees, light brown belt, light grey pants and, like all the former Swordsmen of the Mist, he had bandages covering most of his body, his neck down to his chest, including his arms and his tibias.

"Am I right in assuming that you are Kurosuki Raiga, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist?" Yamada asked. The only answer he received was a psychotic laughter.

"Indeed I am and I will be the one that arrange your funerals!" Raiga shouted with a crazy look in his eye. Yamada scoffed at that before he looked around the room.

"Where is the daimyo." He asked calmly. Another crazy laughter followed before the swordsman answered. "He was never here! He isn't even in this palace! We knew about your little attack plan already yesterday." He replied.

"How so?" Yamada asked still as calm as ever. The man was obviously crazy so he was probably easy to extract information from.

"Now why would I tell you that?" Raiga asked in a calmer tone of voice and Yamada sighed. _'Well, that idea didn't work out…'_ He thought.

"However, I am going to tell you that your ambush on the army was anticipated." The swordsman said. Yamada's eyes widened before he turned to the green haired man at his side.

"Masato-san get to the battlefield! Your troops are in danger." Yamada said. Ishimaru nodded before he stormed out the door. Yamada then turned to Naruto.

"You go too." He said to which Naruto shook his head. "I'm not leaving you alone to fight this guy!" Naruto shouted with determination. "Fine then." Yamada said as he pulled out his two pointy weapons.

Raiga raised an eyebrow at this. "What have we here? A swordsman like me… and you're from kiri too. Well this certainly became interesting." He said as he pulled out his own swords.

"Naruto, I need a distraction." Yamada whispered. "No problem! Taju kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted and twenty clones appeared and charged right at the swordsman.

Raiga easily cut every clone in half and looked around for the original. "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he thrust the spinning orb forward. The green haired man quickly spun around and brought his swords up to block the attack.

The block was successful and the blond was forced to jump back in shock. "What the heck! How did he block me?" Naruto shouted in confusion.

"The swords made in the hidden mist are not ordinary swords Naruto." Yamada said as he eyed his opponent. He was wielding the twin swords 'Kiba'.

The pair of swords had both a slim and straight double-edged blade. Both blades also had an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of one side of blade and another one near the base of the blade's other side.

The swords themselves were said to be the sharpest one's ever created and they each had been imbued with lightning, displaying enhanced cutting power in a manner similar to the high-frequency vibrations of lightning-based chakra flow.

It was a very dangerous opponent they were facing. If Yamada remembered correctly then the swords could also be connected at the hilts to form a larger double-bladed sword.

Yamada was brought out of his thoughts as Naruto charged again with another Rasengan in hand. "Wait you idiot!" Yamada shouted as he charged after his companion.

"Raikyū!" Raiga said as he brought his two swords close together. Between the swords formed a sparkling ball of lightning that he hurled against Naruto.

The technique was doomed to hit Naruto right in the chest. However, before it made contact Yamada jumped in between and pushed it of course with his sword.

This left him open which gave Raiga the opportunity he needed. He dashed forward and made a slice at Yamada's open torso. Yamada didn't get to jump away in time and the swords sliced against his covered torso barley breaking through the jonin vest.

He jumped back and placed a hand against the wound and sure enough a small amount of blood was seeping out of the wound. His hand began glowing green as he shot a hidden glare at Naruto.

"Get your shit together and don't charge in blindly again!" He shouted at the blond who looked shocked before he nodded quickly.

Raiga only chuckled again, but this time he didn't sound crazy. "Your companion seems to be quite the idiot." He stated which only helped to infuriate Naruto even more.

"You shut up! I am a great ninja!" Naruto shouted. Raiga chuckled again before he made one very familiar handseal. "Let's see if the standard in Kiri's shinobi have dropped or risen. Kirigakure no jutsu!" The green haired man said and soon enough the whole room was covered in a very thick chakra enhanced mist.

Yamada cursed under his breath as he held his weapons tightly in his hands and activated his sharingan. They probably wouldn't be of much help to him, but it was worth a shot.

"Naruto, be careful! This guy is not to be messed with!" Yamada shouted hoping the blond heard him through the mist. He quickly turned to the left and brought up his sword in a blocking motion just in time to block a lethal strike.

"Impressive… you actually managed to block my strike." Raiga said. His voice sounded like it came from all around Yamada. "You aren't the only one who's been trained in the silent killing technique." Yamada said before he blocked another strike.

"Indeed that's the way it looks." The green haired man said followed up with a menacing chuckle. "Stop messing with us you bastard!" Yamada heard Naruto shout through the mist.

'_I need to clear out the mist or this might end badly for Naruto.'_ Yamada thought. Naruto had only once before encountered the silent killing technique and that was almost four years ago.

Yamada tried to block another strike, but he didn't count on his katana being cut in two and he himself received another cur on his arm. "It seems your katana was just an ordinary sword." Raiga said with a chuckle.

"Indeed it was." Yamada said as he threw away the broken weapon. He placed his other sword away as well.

"Futon: astugai!" Yamada shouted and a tornado like mass of compressed air shot outwards. The mist quickly disappeared and the compressed wind was headed straight for where Raiga was standing.

Raiga just managed to dodge the wind before it crashed through the wall behind him completely obliterating it. However he didn't come out of it without a few scratches and cuts. "So you're a wind user." Raiga said with a smirk.

"Partly" Yamada replied with a shrug. The man's smirk only widened before both swordsmen charged forward, swords locking in a power struggle.

They both looked into the others eyes with determination. Seconds later Raiga was forced to jump back to avoid the Rasengan. "See now you're thinking before your acting. That wasn't so hard now was it?" Yamada asked in a mocking tone.

"Oh shut up and tell me the plan." Naruto grumbled. "To be honest I don't have one." Yamada said with a shrug and Naruto sweat dropped.

"Just try not to charge in blindly and get yourself killed." Yamada said before he charged the swordsman again.

"Raisō: Ikazuchi no Utage!" The green haired man shouted before he thrust his two swords into the ground. Several thunderbolts cut through the ground straight towards Yamada.

Thinking fast, Yamada jumped over the electricity and Raiga. He landed right behind the man in a one handed handstand and sent a kick at the man's head.

To Yamada's amazement the man dodged it effortlessly. Raiga then returned with his own kick which sent Yamada flying into the air.

He managed to correct himself in the air and landed on his legs before he stared at the green haired man in wonder.

He hadn't even turned so how did he know the attack was coming? Yamada was brought out of his thoughts as several Naruto clones charged at Raiga with a Rasengan each.

All of them were easily defeated because of Naruto's mediocre taijutsu skills, but it gave Yamada the perfect opening. In his one free hand he charged up the Raikiri subconsciously.

He charged at the most speed his gravity seals would allow towards the swordsman which wasn't slow at all. He was certain it was going to hit. There was no way the swordsman could turn in time to see the attack coming. However, Raiga managed to twist his body out of the way in the last second so that Yamada went past him.

At the same time he brought one of his swords out and made a small cut in Yamada's back. Yamada stumbled and skidded along the ground before he stopped right in front of Naruto.

With a groan Yamada got back to his feet, his sharingan spinning in pure anger as he turned his head towards the opponent. "How did you dodge that? You shouldn't even have seen it coming." Yamada said in anger.

Raiga only smirked which irked Yamada even more. "You want to play huh? Alright, we'll play." Yamada said in a dangerously low tone.

Several roots shot out of the ground around Raiga, shocking the swordsman for a minute. He got out of his shock and jumped out of the way just barley in time.

New roots continued to shoot out of the stone floor every time he thought he was out of harm's way. This continued for a while until the roots finally stopped coming after him.

He was now heavily breathing as he looked at his two enemies. His eyes landed on them just in time to see the sword wielder of the two sitting on the ground with his arms in an x before he slowly got to his feet.

Then, as if he was never there, Yamada disappeared in a burst of unimaginable speed and appeared right behind the other swordsman with a kick aimed at the man's head.

This time the kick connected and Raiga was sent into a nearby wall. "Dam it Ranmaru, why didn't you warn me?" The green haired man whispered as he got back to his feet.

"I didn't even see him move!" A voice sounded from the swordsman's back. From the tone of the voice one could easily understand the person was in shock.

"So that's how you dodged my attacks. There are someone in that mantle of yours." Yamada concluded from right beside them. Raiga's eyes widened before he angrily swung at his side were Yamada supposedly was.

"That certainly is interesting, but how does he see through the mantle…" Yamada muttered now from the other side of the swordsman.

"Stop messing with me!" Raiga shouted as he swung his sword the other way only for Yamada to disappear again. "And what are you going to do about it if I don't?" Yamada asked as he now was standing right in front of Raiga with a raised eyebrow under his hood.

Raiga briefly looked up at Yamada to show his smirk which made the teen back off slightly. The green haired man shakily got to his feet and held his swords in the reversed grip.

He then thrust the hilts into each other forming the double sword. He then started rotating them at high speed which led to his body being surrounded in electricity.

'_The density of that stuff could fry anyone that's even close to it… I'll have to be careful.'_ Yamada thought as he got into a ready position.

Raiga looked at the two with a menacing look in his eyes before he charged straight at the not expecting Naruto. Yamada's eyes widened slightly before he shot out in a burst of speed.

With the lightning chakra Raiga was probably faster than Yamada himself which was a concern. Even training with the gravity seals had its limits.

He just managed appear in front of Naruto, his sword lifted in a defensive position while his other hand was lifted to point at the roof.

Raiga's two swords collided with Yamada's once again and Yamada begun his plan. His sword, the Purotekutaa, was specially designed to work with his bloodline.

Yamada slowly started draining the lightning that surrounded the swords. He led it through his body and out his other hand where the lightning shot into the roof, making chunks of it fall down upon them.

Naruto took it upon himself to make sure none of the pieces of the roof landed on top of the two battling shinobi.

Slowly the lightning disappeared completely and Raiga fell to his knees limp. Yamada, who was not in such a good shape anymore, lifted his sword and cut of the mantle so that the person in it fell to the ground.

He then kicked Raiga in the face making him fall backwards onto his back with a grunt. Yamada was somewhat breathing heavily at this point. He placed his foot on Raiga's chest just to make sure the man wouldn't get up before he began extracting information from him.

First then did the two notice the little boy who made his way out of the mantle with wide eyes.

The young boy had chin length purple hair which parted in the middle. He also had red-colored eyes and he wore a light-purple shirt with black stripes on each side, a sash around his waist, a pair of dark-colored pants and sandals. He also had a slightly feminine appearance.

"Wait, don't kill Raiga!" The little boy shouted. He tried to stand, but it was obvious the boy's body was very weak and he collapsed on the ground again. Yamada looked at the little boy for a moment before he turned his gaze down to his enemy.

"Sorry kid, but I can't do that." He said which shocked both Naruto and the little boy. "Why? You have beaten him! We could just let him go!" Naruto shouted.

"No Naruto, we can't." Yamada said as he began draining the other man's chakra. "Why not?" Naruto asked rather angrily.

"Well, I don't know! Let's start with the fact that he tried to kill us!" Yamada shouted which made Naruto flinch. "And that he's working for an organization that is funding the akatsuki. He is also a very unstable man from what I have gathered." Yamada finished.

"But you can't kill him! He is my body and I am his eyes! Without each other we are out of balance." The little boy said with small tears in his eyes.

Yamada was about to reply, but his attention was brought to the man underneath his shinobi sandal as he coughed and opened his eyes. "It's ok Ranmaru, I guess I kind of had this coming." The former swordsman said.

"You have been a perfect companion and the best partner anyone could want. I'm going to miss you." The green haired man said before he turned his gaze to Yamada.

"I want you to take care of Ranmaru for me." Raiga said which shocked Yamada. "And why should I do that?" Yamada asked. He was going to do it anyways, but he wanted to hear the man's conviction as well.

"Because I promised myself to protect him forever… but since I am not able to protect him anymore I want to leave the task to you. Please honor a swordsman's last request before he dies." Raiga said in an almost pleading tone.

"Fine… I will honor your last wish." Yamada said somewhat softly. Raiga nodded with a satisfied expression. "Also… give me one hell of a funeral." The green haired man said with a weak chuckle.

"Sure…" Yamada said with a weak chuckle of his own. The green haired man's labored breathing finally stopped and his eyes closed with a small smile on his lips.

Yamada quickly lifted the body and started walking towards the exit. "Take Ranmaru here back to the village. I am going to give him his funeral and then I'll come after you." Yamada said before he disappeared around the corner.

Naruto seemed to hesitate for a moment before he picked up the little boy. Ranmaru tried to struggle, but it was no use as he was carried out by the blond.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The moment Yamada was out behind the palace he placed the corps of the swordsman down carefully before he collapsed against a wall breathing heavily. His whole body was aching because of the strain his bloodline limit put on it. _'The strain is getting worse and worse every time.'_ He thought as he leaned his head back against the wall.

With shaky legs he got back up. He didn't have time to rest. There were still things left to do. With much effort he managed to dig a grave. They might have been enemies, but out of respect for the man's power and former position he would follow the Raiga's wishes.

When he was done he placed the twin swords into a sealing scroll and made his way towards the last part of his job.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

On the way back to the village, Naruto ran into the shinobi forces that were sent out. They were led back by; of course, Ishimaru and most of them looked extremely tired.

Behind what was left of the shinobi forces came a group of what looked like captives. "Did you win?" Naruto asked curiously.

"If we didn't win we wouldn't be here Naruto-san." Ishimaru said. "Although we did lose a lot of men." He continued in a much sadder tone as he looked over his shoulder.

Indeed the army had been cut down by one third and if the wounded weren't treated soon the casualty rate would only increase.

They made their way back to the village. All the way Naruto debriefed Ishimaru about what happened. Ranmaru stayed quiet the entire trip on Naruto's back, silently crying for his lost partner.

By the time they reached the village Naruto had told him everything that had happened. "So the war is still going?" Ishimaru asked in a somewhat unmotivated tone.

"As far as I know, but don't worry! We'll get it done before you know it!" Naruto said with encouragement. Somehow that set a smile on every shinobi in the area.

"First things first. We need to get these people healed. Then we can plan ahead." Ishimaru said with a small smile. The large village gates slowly swung open and to say people were surprised by what they saw would be an understatement.

In the opening of the gate sat Yamada on the floor sipping some tea with a bound up man at his side. "Took you long enough to get here." He said as he got up into a standing position.

"Let me present my newest friend, the great and mighty daimyo of this country." He said in a mock tone as he motioned for the bound man at his side. Silence ranged in the area as people were trying to progress what they were seeing.

After a couple of minutes the shinobi population broke out in a roar of happiness. The rest of the night was spent celebrating.

They had won the war and freed their country.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** Well, I think that chapter was a success. What do you think? Is it just me that thinks I am getting better at fighting scenes? Probably…

Anyways I didn't get any answers on what you guys thought Hinata should pick so that question still stands if someone wants to tell me. ^_^

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	10. Chapter 9: Urges

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say this every time? I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

:

Ah, so that's what you meant… now it is true that he does have the DNA of both an Uchiha and a Senju, but that doesn't mean he can awaken the Rinnegan. If it was like that then Danzo should have awakened it as well. Madara awakened the Rinnegan because he himself was an Uchiha with Senju DNA. As far as I understand it you must also have a near death experience.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, but I don't really think it's possible for Yamada to activate the Rinnegan.

And thank you for the vote!

**AN:** I think I'm really starting to stretch the border between the ratings here… or I don't know. Tell me what you guys think!

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

He woke up the next morning with a powerful headache. It felt like his head would split in two any second. Sitting up on the side of the bed he gently rubbed his aching head.

Last night had been wild to say the least. Right after he had been healed up from his battle had he been dragged off to drink sake somewhere. Where that somewhere was he couldn't remember.

It all was a blur really and he could possibly say he was happy he didn't remember. He had been drunk a couple of times before, mostly after they had won large battles in the Bloodline civil war.

Looking up, Yamada saw the sun wasn't even up yet and it was still dark outside which led him to believe it was still as early as four or five in the morning, if not earlier.

With a sigh he got to his feet and started looking around for his clothes. For e brief moment he wondered why he was sleeping naked, but brushed it of as nothing to worry about.

He froze when he picked up a piece of clothing that wasn't his. It was, in fact, a piece of clothing that should have belonged on a woman.

His eyes widened for a second as he slowly turned towards the bed, eyeing it like it was a sleeping beast that could wake up by the smallest noise. He quietly made his way over to it and gently lifted the blanket to peak under it.

He let go of the blanket and stepped back in shock with a weak blush on his face. Under the covers laid a very beautiful blonde woman in her early twenties, completely naked.

He walked backwards until he was leaning against the wall. He felt like banging his head against the wall in that moment.

'_The first time in two fucking years I decide to let loose and I end up in bed with a random girl… fucking unbelievable.'_ He thought in disbelief. Well this answered why he had been sleeping naked at least.

He walked back to the bed and slightly uncovered the blonde girl. _'Please tell me I was sober enough to use an anti-pregnancy jutsu or something.'_ He thought as he gently placed a hand on her stomach and sent his chakra through her system.

After a moment he pulled his hand away and sighed in relief. He found no physical signs of pregnancy in her womb although it was still too early to determine if she really was pregnant.

When he had cleared that out of the way he felt a pang of guilt go through his chest. Technically, he had just cheated on Tenten. Even though she was… dead it still didn't feel right.

But then again could he have helped it? Every human being had needs after all. He wouldn't be able to go on forever. Eventually he would have been forced to marry because of the clan laws in kiri.

The law stated that the head of the clan needed to produce at least one hair before his death. Yamada himself thought it was an idiotic rule, but that was only his opinion.

'_Dam it, this is getting me nowhere._' He thought as he shook his head. Quickly gathering his clothes, he found some paper and wrote a message to the girl before he quickly left through the window. He didn't want to be there when she woke up, especially if she was a kunoichi…

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada made his way to the mansion that would later be known as the leader of Ishigakure's mansion. He snuck in through the window to the room he was staying in before he sighed a breath of relief.

Luckily he, Misaki and Naruto had gotten separate rooms or else this might have been awkward. He walked out of the door and into the hallway and was actually surprised to see someone else was up.

Ishimaru was sitting in his new office signing some documents. When he spotted Yamada entering he grinned and placed down his pen.

"Well look who's come back from his late night adventure." The green haired man said in a teasing tone. "I don't know what you're talking about." Yamada replied trying to remain as neutral looking as possible.

"Don't lie to me Yamada-san. I know for a fact that you didn't come back to the mansion last night. That and I sensed your chakra approaching the mansion a little while ago." Ishimaru said, his smirk never leaving his face.

Yamada couldn't help it as a small blush crept up on his face which was all the confirmation the green haired man needed. "So I was right." He said which caused Yamada's blush to deepen a little. "Another word and I'll make sure you'll never see the sunlight again." Yamada said in a warning tone.

The village leader chuckled before he waved the teen of. "You don't need to worry about anything. I won't pry for details or anything and I won't tell a soul. You have urges just like everybody else." He said and received a somewhat content look from the blond.

Yamada mumbled something about going to train before he quickly made his way out of the mansion and away from the awkwardness.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_The next day_

It was time for Yamada, Naruto and Misaki to departure from the village. The previous day had been… interesting to say the least.

The woman Yamada woke up with had pursued him back to the mansion where she had told Ishimaru to tell Yamada she was looking for him. When Yamada heard of this he grew a new shade of pale and demanded that they would leave the village the following day.

The rest of his time in the village he had basically spent in hiding. While Naruto and Misaki were confused by the whole ordeal they didn't get any answers from neither Yamada nor Ishimaru.

Ranmaru had been sent back to kiri on one of Yamada's summons and would probably arrive there by the end of the week. They had tried to keep them leaving the village as secret as possible, but apparently no one knew how to keep a secret these days.

Yamada was currently hiding in a tree just outside the walls as he was waiting for the other two to say their goodbyes. He had seen the woman he had slept with approach the gates and had immediately baled.

After about ten or so minutes Naruto and Misaki finally came through the gates with smiles on their faces. They jumped up in the tree where Yamada was waiting and sent him questioning looks.

"I still don't understand why you were hiding onii-san." Misaki said with a bit of anger hidden in her voice. She didn't like when people withheld information from her.

"It's nothing to worry about." Yamada said in a neutral tone before he unsealed a map from a sealing scroll. "Now I have a few things I need to take care of in Iwa so I think we'll be headed north." He explained.

"Now because of how much you look like your father, Naruto, I think it would be best if you did not enter the village." Yamada said and Naruto's eyes widened.

"What does my father have to do with this?" Naruto demanded loudly. "Your father is known for killing over a thousand Iwa shinobi and if any of them recognize you as his son they might try to kill you." Yamada explained.

"But why would they be trying to kill me?" Naruto asked in confusion and Yamada sighed in frustration. "Because they might still have a grudge against your father." He said.

"That still doesn't explain why they would want to kill me." Naruto said and even Misaki had to facepalm at this point. "You know what Naruto? Just do as I say! It is way too troublesome to explain to you." Yamada said.

Somewhere in Konoha a lazy Nara sneezed himself awake. He looked around before he muttered troublesome and went back to sleep.

Yamada then turned to Misaki. "I think you should stay out of the village as well Misaki." He said. "The five tails originally was given to Iwa and if they find out you hold it they might try to take it back." He finished and Misaki nodded in understanding.

"Now let's get going." He said before he jumped towards the next tree on their path.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_One week later_

Mei sighed in contentment as she walked through the busy streets. Now and then she was greeted by a villager or an of duty shinobi. It was nice to finally relax.

She had for once been ahead of her schedule and she managed to, for once, finish the paperwork before she had to stay after hours in the office.

She really cherished the few times she was able to step outside the office and nothing could ruin her good mood… well, except having to go back to the office.

A swirl of water appeared before her snapping her out of her thoughts. Haku was revealed when the water disappeared. "Mizukage-sama, there is a… strange person at the gates who claims to be Hōzuki Suigetsu." The black haired girl said.

'_So much for not going back to the office today.'_ Mei thought with a sigh. "Tell them to escort him to my office." She said before she turned on her heel and walked back towards the tower.

When she arrived she instantly recognized the man. It was not hard to see he belonged to the Hōzuki clan. Their traits were really easy to determine.

However she had to be sure. She pulled out a kunai and slashed it through the man's head and sure enough it turned into water.

"What the hell!" Suigetsu shouted after his head reformed. "Just had to make sure you are who you say you are. It's very hard to tell these days whose lying and who's not." Mei said as she pulled out a document from the drawer in her desk.

She leaned over the desk to write at the document and Suigetsu couldn't help but to peek at her behind. Mei noticed this and couldn't help but smirk.

"Sorry water-boy, this body is reserved for someone else." She said. Suigetsu got a small blush on his cheeks and mumbled something under his breath. The red head had to put in an effort to keep her laughter back.

"There that should be all. Just sign this document, take a picture, and swear an oath and you'll be a full member of Kirigakure's ninja force. You will be on probation a whole month though." She said as she handed him the document.

He quickly signed it and handed it back to her. "So when can I fight the leader of the new swordsmen? I want his place." Suigetsu said with barley contained excitement.

Mei let out an amused chuckle as she leaned on the desk. "You think you can beat him… cute." She said. Suigetsu didn't have time to ask what she meant as he was led out of the office by his two guards.

"Now I can finally relax." Mei said as she slumped into her chair. "**Another message from Yamada-sama, Mizukage-sama."** The dragon in her window said.

Mei groaned loudly before she got out of her chair. Her thoughts wandered to a certain sixteen year old. _'Curse you Hayato Yamada.'_ She thought darkly.

In that exact moment a shiver went down Yamada's spine.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The trip to Iwa was rather uneventful. Nothing major happened in the week and a half they used to find the village. Of course it would have taken less time if they had known where the village was.

Naruto and Misaki were staying at an inn in a town a couple of miles away from the village itself. Naruto had also begun his training to complete the Rasengan.

Yamada had watched the blond work every day and he was not impressed with the progress. The blond was barely making any progress at all when he thought about it.

Every time he almost had it, it blew up in his face. Yamada had to stop the blond several times from using the Kyuubi's chakra as well.

It was rather annoying and Yamada was beginning to think it was hopeless, but the blond didn't give up. He never gave up.

Despite the fact that they had just entered July it was still very cold in Tsuchi no Kuni. It might have just been the fact that Yamada was used to a warmer climate or the fact that Tsuchi no Kuni was a nation very far north, but he still thought it was cold.

"Halt, state your purpose for approaching the glorious Iwagakure." Said a shinobi as he appeared in front of the teen. Yamada looked around and noticed that he still had a way to go before he reached the village.

'_It seems that this village is more about security than Konoha.'_ He thought with a hint of amusement.

The man in front of him was a very tall and brawny shinobi. He had dark eyes and short dark-grey-colored hair as well as a beard and a bulbous nose. He wore what Yamada thought was the standard Iwagakure shinobi uniform with a left sleeve and a right lapel.

"I'm here to collect a bounty." Yamada replied shortly. "A bounty hunter, eh? Which bounty are you collecting?" The guard asked suspiciously. "Deidara of Iwa." Yamada replied and had to really fight back the laughter that threatened to burst out of him when he saw the shocked expression on the ninja's face.

"The Tsuchikage will probably want to speak to you personally. I will need you to hand over all weapons you own here before I lead you to the village." The guard said and Yamada complied. Luckily he had left his hitai ate as well as every one of his weapons with Naruto except for his kunai pouch. He didn't want anyone to recognize which village he belonged too or any of the weapons he had… acquired.

He quickly handed the pouch to the man who looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he placed the pouch in a sealing scroll. "Follow me and no funny business." The man said to which Yamada complied.

He wasn't there to cause trouble… well maybe he was there for the chance to steal a certain Kekkei Genkai from a certain kage, but that's about it.

He had heard many rumors about the man's Kekkei Genkai. Well, technically it was called a Kekkei tōta, an advanced version of the Kekkei Genkai. Instead of mixing only two nature elements it mixed three making it extremely dangerous and hard to control.

Yamada, however, just looked at this as another challenge that he had to overcome.

The man led him to the gates of the village before he disappeared in a shunshin. When Yamada started walking through the city he felt the presence of ANBU on his tail. However, he just shrugged it off as protocol.

He quickly made his way towards the Tsuchikage tower. As he walked he calmly looked around the village.

The village was located in a mountain range consisting of small narrow waterfalls, with the buildings being composed of rock and stone. Many of its buildings were on cliffs connected by a network of bridges.

It was kind of funny walking around in the village. Most likely since it was so different from anything else he had previously seen. Instead of walking through streets he was walking over bridges. It was a very humorous change.

It wasn't long before the magnificent tower of the Tsuchikage came into view. The Tsuchikage's residence seemed to be the tallest structure in the village with a cone-shaped roof and bore the kanji for Earth on it.

The moment he stepped right in front of the tower, two masked ninja that had been following him appeared at his side. "We are here to escort you the rest of the way." One of them said.

Yamada simply nodded to them and followed them inside the tower. They arrived fairly quickly at the Tsuchikage's office and he was sent in immediately.

When Yamada's eyes landed on the form of who he assumed was the kage he raised an eyebrow. _'You've got to be joking me… this guy's even older than Jiraiya.'_ Yamada thought with amusement.

The Tsuchikage was a very short, old man with a triangular beard and a moustache that had angular corners, a big red nose and thick eyebrows. The top of his head was completely bald, although he had long white hair on the lower-half of his head which was styled in a traditional chonmage haircut. He looked to be around his late seventies maybe early eighties.

He wore a green and yellow coat with a red collar. Underneath he wore the traditional Iwagakure outfit consistent of a light green version of Iwagakure's flak jacket and mesh armor. He however had both his sleeves of his shirt, but kept the single lapel on his right side.

At his side stood a beautiful girl who was looking at Yamada quizzically and with a hint of irritation in her eyes. She looked to be around Haku's age if not a year or so older.

The girl had short, black hair and pupil-less, black eyes. She wore the standard attire of the Iwa-nin consisting of a red uniform with her right sleeve missing and a lapel over her right leg, the brown Iwagakure flak jacket, fishnet tights and a skirt over them. She also wore regular shinobi sandals and a pair of gloves.

"What is the meaning of this?" The old kage asked, clearly irritated. "I am sorry to disturb Tsuchikage-sama, but this man is here to get a bounty." One of the masked ninja said as he bowed.

"Then why did you bring him here? My secretary usually takes care of that." The old kage complained. There was silence for a moment before the kneeling shinobi finally spoke again.

"Sir, he claims to have killed… Deidara." He said with a hint of disbelief in his voice. The Tsuchikage's eyes narrowed at the so called bounty hunter that was standing in his office.

The woman that had been staring at Yamada with mild annoyance now stared at him in disbelief. "Do you have proof?" The old man asked. Yamada simply pulled out a scroll from his sleeve.

He walked forward and placed it on the ground before he walked back. He knew how security measures worked.

The woman at the kage's side walked carefully closer to the scroll to pick it up. When she did she slowly opened it to see if it was a trap. The only thing she got to see was the ordinary seal that was inside every sealing scroll.

She rolled it up again and nodded at the kage before she placed it in front of him on the desk. Yamada stood there impassively watching the whole thing.

The Tsuchikage channeled his chakra through the seal and a puff of smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared Deidara's head was displayed before him in its dead glory.

The old kage widened his eyes in shock before a small chuckle escaped him. "I'll be dammed." He muttered as his eyes returned to the bounty hunter.

A small smirk spread across his old lips as his mind went into overdrive. _'I don't see a hitai ate anywhere visible on his body. If I play my cards right I might gain a powerful shinobi under my rule.'_ He thought as his grin seemed to widen.

It was no easy job to kill a skilled ninja such as Deidara. The blonde's 'art' as he called it was quite deadly. This led the Tsuchikage to believe the man in front of him was very powerful.

"I must say I didn't believe it when he said you wanted Deidara's bounty." The old kage said as he tried to start a friendly conversation. When he got no answer his smirk lessened.

"Perhaps you would share with me how you defeated him." The kage suggested. "My methods are mine and mine alone." Yamada replied without emotion.

The kage frowned as he turned to the woman at his side. "Kurotsuchi, go and get the bounty ransom while I… chat with the receiver." He said. The woman now identified as Kurotsuchi nodded in understanding of the hidden meaning in the words.

She disappeared from the room leaving the kage and the bounty hunter alone in the room. Well, they were alone if you ignored the fact that the ANBU was hiding in the shadows.

"What's your name?" The kage finally asked after a long silence. "I prefer not to tell my clients my name." Yamada replied impassively. "Why not?" The kage asked.

Yamada was silent for a second, as if thinking of the answer. "You should give your own name before you ask for others'." Yamada stated. The old kage raised an eyebrow at his words.

To him that sounded very childish, but he complied none the less. "Ōnoki, my name is Ōnoki." The old kage said somewhat hesitantly.

"Matsuo…" Yamada lied with a curt nod.

"Now I don't see a hitai ate on you. Am I to assume that you do not belong to any village?" The kage asked. He was trying to get information out of the younger man, any information at all.

"You are right in your assumption." Yamada lied with a neutral voice. "Why hasn't a skilled shinobi such as you been lured in by another village?" Ōnoki asked.

"I work best alone and I look at ninja villages as a burden which only exist to keep me down." Was the only reply he got. "What if I could offer you a home and free reign?" Ōnoki asked setting his plan into motion.

"You wouldn't have to work with anyone and you would be able to do what you wanted. The pay will be good and the only thing I ask in return is for you to fight for this village." The old kage said.

It sounded very tempting to Yamada, but then again he wasn't the type to be easily tricked. "Not interested." He stated simply. Ōnoki's patience was running out with this guy.

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" He asked in a last attempt before he switched to plan B. Yamada took on a pose like he was actually thinking about it. "Why don't you… make me the next kage?" Yamada replied casually with a shrug, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Ōnoki's eyes widened and he was about to deny it completely, but was stopped as Kurotsuchi walked into the room again. With her she carried a suitcase that she placed in front of the kage on his desk.

Ōnoki opened it to reveal it being full of ryo. "As the bounty says; three hundred million ryo." The Tsuchikage said. Yamada walked up to the desk, noticing how the ANBU around the room tensed, and began counting the money.

When he was done he closed the suitcase and pulled it of the desk. "A pleasure doing business with you." He said as he stretched his arm out. This was the moment of truth, his only chance to get the rare bloodline limit.

Ōnoki reluctantly stretched out his own arm and grasped the younger man's hand. In that moment he felt as if an electrical current passed through Yamada's hand and into his own before it quickly happened the other way around.

He quickly pulled his hand back like he had been bitten. Yamada did a short bow before he made his way towards the door. No one could see the hidden smirk that played on his lips.

Silence fell over the room after Yamada left. "So I guess your little talk didn't go so well." Kurotsuchi stated while twirling a kunai in her hand. Ōnoki didn't answer as he was deep in thought.

"Kurotsuchi, I want you to go after him. Try to seduce him into joining us and if that doesn't work… try the violent way." The old kage finally said.

"Why are you so obsessed with this dude anyway?" The black haired girl asked. Ōnoki fixed her with a stare. "You should know just as well as I do that Deidara was no weakling. If this guy beat him by himself then we are looking at a very powerful shinobi. One that could be useful to us." Ōnoki explained.

Kurotsuchi nodded in understanding before she walked towards the office door. "Well you don't need to worry about anything gramps. This guy is as good as on our side." She said with confidence as she disappeared through the door.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada was walking quickly through the village towards the exit. The suitcase was already sealed into a sealing scroll and he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

Having read the kage's mind he knew the old man would send someone after him. If it was to seduce him or to force him to come back he didn't know, but he wasn't planning on finding out either.

As he walked he felt a strong chakra signature slip closer and closer to him. It was that girl in the office's chakra signature, Kurotsuchi if he remembered correctly.

She was coming up from behind him and was getting closer and closer. At this point she was basically breathing down his neck.

On the platform he was walking on he saw a small alleyway between two of the stone buildings. In one swift motion he spun around, grabbed the girl and jumped into the alleyway.

The surprised look on her face told him that she had not expected him to do what he did. He pressed his forearm harshly against her throat.

"Why are you following me?" He asked in a hushed tone. He hadn't even noticed that he had activated his sharingan which shocked the girl even more. _'He's got the sharingan? This fucker is from Konoha! Well, it doesn't matter. Orders are orders.'_ She thought before she quickly schooled her features and placed a seducing smile on her lips.

Almost every kunoichi had to go through a seduction mission at some point in their lives. It was a part of the job description… well at least in Iwa it was. Luckily for Kurotsuchi she had gone through a couple already and was fully prepared.

"I just wanted to know why you turned down my kage's offer." She said in a soft seducing tone. "I'll tell you what I told him. Shinobi villages are just burdens." He replied.

"I'm sure not all villages are burdens." She replied while bringing her face inches closer to his. Subconsciously the strength in Yamada's forearm lessened slightly.

"I'm sure we can work out… some form of agreement." She said as she rubbed her leg against his crotch. Although she was still pressed against the wall she felt the pressure he put on her falter slightly.

'_This girl is good.'_ Yamada thought. Sure he had been trained many times because of Mei's seduction attempts, but Mei had been out of practice. Yamada wasn't even sure if the female kage had done any seduction missions in her ninja career.

The girl that was pressed between him and the wall, however, was on a completely different level. She knew exactly what she was doing most of the time.

He was brought out of his thoughts as she pushed her chest against his, their faces only inches apart. "I'm sure there is something that you want." She said. By this time Yamada's forearm had dropped to his side.

Suddenly she pushed against him and was now the one trapping him against a wall. "Don't you agree?" The black haired girl asked as she gently pulled down the mask that covered his mouth. She then planted a soft kiss on his lips.

His body seemed to act against his own will and he started kissing her back. Several thoughts raced through his head at that moment.

Was this right? Of course it wasn't! She was seducing him for crying out loud. But then again it did feel very good.

'_But maybe she is right… maybe we can work out something.' _The less logical part of his mind said. _'But we are betraying Tenten! And what of Kirigakure, Haku, Mei, Naruto, Misaki and the others? Am I really going to let them down?' _The logical part of his mind screamed.

'_Dam you hormones!' _Yamada thought in frustration as he was mentally kicking himself.His thoughts were interrupted when he felt her hand slide under his jonin vest. This seemed to bring him back to his senses as he was suddenly able to think clearly again.

'_I can't let them down.'_ Yamada thought in determination. He managed to push the seductive kunoichi off of him by using every ounce of willpower he had. She fell to the ground breathing heavily because of the length of the kiss.

He pulled his mask up again before he looked at her with his sharingan spinning. "Like I said; not interested." He said before he walked out of the alleyway.

"Dam it, looks like I will have to do this the hard way. I really didn't feel like getting my hands dirty today." She said to herself with a sigh. She got back to her feet and begun her pursuit. _'One thing is for sure. He is an amazing kisser.'_ She thought with a barley contained smirk.

She caught up with him outside of the village in the middle of a barren wasteland a couple of kilometers from the main gate. Well, that's basically what Tsuchi no Kuni consisted of anyways, barren wasteland.

"Couldn't you just have given up?" Yamada asked with a sigh as he turned to her. She shook her head with a grin on her lips. "Nope can't let such a good kisser run away from me. Besides I thought an Uchiha never ran away from a battle." She said in a teasing tone.

"Well, I have no intentions of working for someone who is only a step away from a funeral home." Yamada said as his hands went through handseals underneath his poncho.

When he was done he reached up and pulled down his mask. "Are you going to kiss me again?" Kurotsuchi asked in a teasing tone. Ignoring her teasing, Yamada finished the technique he was working on.

"By the way, I am no Uchiha. Yōton: youganno kawa!" He said as he spewed an enormous amount of lava in front of him and Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in shock. She jumped into the air and did her own handseals.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" She shouted before a large jet of water launched from her mouth hitting the lava. The lava immediately cooled down and became solid much to Kurotsuchi's relief.

Her relief however did not last long as she noticed her enemies arm turn into wood and rushed towards her. _'This guy's got three Kekkei Genkai! That's impossible.' _She thought as the wood hit her in the side.

Yamada detached his arm from the wood and slammed the palms of his hand into the ground. "Doton: Doryūsō!" He shouted and sent multiple earth spears at his enemy.

Kurotsuchi did her own technique and an earth dome rose around her protecting her from the earth spears. Meanwhile inside the dome Kurotsuchi was thinking hard.

She had never fought an enemy of this caliber. She had fought strong people in her time but this was just ridiculous. The dude had three bloodline limits. Three!

For all she knew he could even have more than that. However she quickly dismissed the idea. It was highly unlikely to have three bloodlines and it was never even heard of to have more than that.

Outside the dome Yamada was doing his own thinking. _'From what I learned from her she can use water, earth, fire and she has lava release… I will have to use my techniques accordingly to what she is using.'_ He thought.

A moment later Kurotsuchi appeared out of the dome and was immediately engaged in a taijutsu fight with Yamada. He was trying to keep her at the defensive since that would keep her from doing jutsus.

From analyzing her fighting style earlier via her mind he was able to figure out the best taijutsu stance to keep her at bay with. Sometimes his bloodline was just too good to be true.

The taijutsu fight continued for a while and Kurotsuchi was getting frustrated. Every move she tried he always had a countering mover for and she was beginning to get tired.

Her breathing was heavy and her limbs were aching. Yamada caught another one of her punches and dragged hard on her arm while he sidestepped.

He kept one of his feet in place though and she stumbled over it and fell to the ground. "You giving up yet?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Never!" she said between heavy breaths and tried to get up. She finally got to her feet and thought through her next move carefully. _'I won't be able to hold out much longer if this continues…' _She thought. Using chakra enhanced movements was very tiring.

'_I'll have to end this in the next move.'_ She thought.

She went through handseals at an amazing speed. "Yōton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu!" She shouted as she spewed out a gray colored substance from her mouth.

The substance splashed around Yamada's feet and he looked down at it impassively. She then did another set of handseals which she had used earlier in the fight.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" She shouted and shot the jet of water at the substance making it go stiff, restricting Yamada's movements.

"Now… you can't… move." She said between heavy breaths. Yamada tried to lift his feet and sure enough they were stuck to the ground. Yamada sighed before three giant tree roots shot out of the ground and trapped Kurotsuchi between them.

"Look, I would really love to stay and play some more, but I've got a couple of companions who are waiting for me." He said from behind her. Her eyes widened just as the Yamada in front of her collapsed.

"Mokuton bunshin." Yamada explained shortly. By now the only thing about her body that wasn't covered by wood was her face.

"What about me? Are you just going to leave me here?" She asked with anger evident in her voice. Yamada shrugged and began walking away.

"We're not that far from your village. If they didn't sense the chakra fluctuation then they don't deserve to be called one of the five great villages." He said with a wave of his hand.

Kurotsuchi was stuck in place a whole hour after Yamada had walked off. When she first was rescued it was her father who came.

"Kurotsuchi, are you all right? Why are you trapped in wood?" Her father asked clearly confused. "It's a long story, otou-san." She said with a sigh. "Just please get me down from here!"

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

As soon Yamada was out of sight he sped up towards the town he had left Naruto and Misaki. Iwa shinobi would probably be searching the entire country for him by the end of the day.

It was bad enough that it didn't go as planned, but he had been reckless enough to reveal three of his Kekkei Genkais. He needed to find the two and leave the country as quickly as possible before there was set up roadblocks.

He only used half an hour to get to the town and he headed straight for the inn they were staying at. He stormed through the door starteling the two inside.

They got into defensive positions and looked towards the door. When they noticed who it was they visibly relaxed and Naruto broke out into a huge smile.

"Hey Yamada, guess what?" He shouted and continued without waiting for a response. "I mastered the Rasengan!" He shouted in excitement.

"That's great Naruto, now we need to… wait what?" Yamada asked as he stopped in his tracks. "You practiced the Rasengan technique without me being present?" Yamada asked in a dangerous tone which made the blond gulp.

"Someone is in trouble." Misaki said in a singsong voice before she had to hide behind Yamada from Naruto. "Stop it both of you!" Yamada said which got their attention.

"You-" He said while pointing at Misaki. "No more teasing! And you-" He said pointing at Naruto "Big trouble!" he said before he gathered up the things he had left there.

"Come on, we need to go! I've got an entire country on my neck! I'll come up with a punishment for Naruto on the way." He said. "Ask questions later." He said as he saw both Naruto and Misaki were about to ask something.

"Now come on!" He said as he walked out into the hallway.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Around twelve hours later they arrived in the country that housed the hidden village Takigakure. All three of them were dead tired because they had been running for so long without a single break.

All three collapsed on their respectable bed the moment they had acquired a room in an inn. None of them felt like even lifting a finger and they slept until the next morning.

When they woke up they ate breakfast before they made their way to a small clearing outside of the town they were staying in. "Naruto it's time to face your punishment." Yamada said before he did one handseal the blond feared.

Seconds later the blond crashed to the ground. The reason for this was that Yamada had increased his gravity seal by two levels.

"Now while you struggle to get up why don't you tell me how you mastered the Rasengan." Yamada said as he sat down in the grass in front of the blond.

"First you tell us why you are chased by a whole country." Naruto demanded. "Let's just say that the Tsuchikage is a very power hungry man." Yamada said which only led to confuse the blond more.

"But enough about that. Tell me how you mastered the Rasengan." He repeated. "It was actually my idea." Misaki said before Naruto had the chance to speak. "Really?" Yamada asked with a raised eyebrow and the girl nodded.

"I knew Naruto wasn't smart enough to figure it out by himself." Yamada said as he ruffled Misaki's hair. "Hey! I'm right here you know!" Naruto shouted, but Yamada only waved him off.

"Lees complaining and more explaining." Yamada said.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

A soft knock on his office door made Gaara lift his head from his desk. "Come in." He said and soon enough Hinata came through the door. She looked nervous which was understandable.

She had been thinking about what Gaara had offered her for a long time and she had come to a decision. If it was a decision she would come to regret later was something else though.

"Do you have an answer." Gaara asked and she nodded hesitantly. Silence followed as she just stood there a couple of steps away from his desk.

"Well?" He asked breaking the silence. She looked at the floor a few more seconds before her eyes lifted to his filled with determination.

"I want to go to Kiri."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** A very rushed ending, but the reason for that is that Norway was hit by a hurricane and there was a power outage. We didn't have power for a long, long time. So my allowed writing time was shortened down. I really need to get the battery on my computer fixed…

Anyways there you have chapter 9!

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


	11. Chapter 10: Unexpected Encounters

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't think anyone is checking this so why do I have to do disclaimers? I don't own Naruto!

"**Summon or demon speaking"**

'_**Summon or demon thinking'**_

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

Reviews:

Guest:

I believe your wrong in your first statement sir. Danzo did indeed have Shisui's sharingan which had developed into a Mangekyō sharingan.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_One month later_

Even though they were nearing the end of the summer months, it was still warmth in the air. The air of Hi no Kuni was so warm that it was hard to believe summer was coming to an end at all.

Of course, being in Hi no Kuni they had taken their precautions. Naruto was now wearing a hood similar to Yamada's to hide his blond hair should they run into Konoha shinobi.

Yamada was wearing his usual outfit as was Misaki. Since she had never been a Konoha shinobi no one would be a threat to her as long as her two companions remained concealed.

They had taken their time, traveling through the rest of the elemental nations. A few nations had joined them and even more had denied their request for an alliance.

However, Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni was already climbing on the power scale. The academies they had promised other nations were coming along nicely. They had already been set up in Yu no Kuni and Nami no Kuni while the rest was under construction.

This was really thinning out Kirigakure's shinobi forces, but they would benefit from it in the long run. Reports were swarming in about several recruits signing on and it seemed to never stop.

If Yamada's plan went as expected then over half of these recruits would go to kiri for further training and hopefully stay there. If they didn't stay it still meant that kiri's allies would grow stronger also helping kiri's standing as one of the great five nations.

Yamada snapped out of his musings as he noticed they were nearing another village. He looked at the sky and noticed that the sun was getting really low on the horizon.

"We will stay in that town for tonight." He said which earned him a nod from his two companions. Right now they were on their way back to kiri.

They only had two weeks left before they had to be back in kiri and they intended on using the time well. They trained several hours a day and only traveled through one town a day.

Their current goal was to go south in Hi no Kuni and make it onto the only piece of mainland that was owned by Mizu no Kuni. It was a decent sized peninsula that had been taken by Kirigakure in the last Great War.

It was one of the many victories Mizu no Kuni had won in the third war and they treasured it dearly. The security there was tight because Mizu's daimyo, as well as the Mizukage, feared that Konoha and Hi no Kuni would try to take it back.

Although the standing treaty between the two nations prevented Hi no Kuni from taking action you could never be too sure. Treaties were only words written on a piece of paper after all.

After they had gotten a room and dumped off any unnecessary items they traveled out of the village into a small clearing to train. "Ok Misaki, you have come a long way on your fire manipulation so I think it's time you start working on your water manipulation." Yamada said which earned him a cheer from the girl.

Misaki had learned two new fire jutsus over the month. The first one was 'Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu' which was basically an enhanced version of the great fireball jutsu. Instead of shooting one large fireball, one would shoot a volley of smaller ones.

The other one was 'Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu'. The user would breathe fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire.

Both were very useful techniques and although they were only C-rank, they were very powerful.

"Naruto while I work with Misaki I want you to continue the work on the throw able Rasengan." Yamada said as he turned to the blond who nodded seriously.

When Yamada was first showed the 'Fūton: Rasenshuriken', he noticed the damage that was done to the blonds hand. Yamada himself couldn't figure out what it was so they went to a civilian hospital.

Although the hospital was not suited for shinobi injuries they did find out something. Apparently the technique attacked the entire chakra circulatory system, which Yamada knew could not be repaired by any form of medical ninjutsu whatsoever.

Yamada had therefore come up with the idea to make the technique throw able. Although that would demand a high amount of concentration on Naruto's behalf it was the only way to use the technique safely and Yamada denied him to use it otherwise.

Naruto had been disappointed, but soon after brightened up and said he would make it happen. "I will get it down this time, believe it!" Naruto shouted with his trademark foxy grin.

As Naruto walked over to another part of the forest to work on his technique Yamada decided to prepare Misaki's training. Using his Doton techniques to dig a very wide hole in the ground, and his Suiton techniques to make an infinite source of water Yamada created a big pond.

"Now before you start learning jutsus you will have to master some exercises." He explained. "Like I did before I learned Katon jutsus?" She asked and he nodded.

"Now to do this exercise you need to channel chakra into the palm of your hand before you place it on the water surface." He told her while he demonstrated.

"Then you need to slowly lift your hand and the water should stick to your hand." He finished as he lifted his hand and created a column of water that stretched from the pond and up to the palm of his hand.

Misaki watched in amazement as the chakra flow into his hand stopped and the water splashed into the pond again. "Now you try and don't try telling me your finished before you can lift it at least one meter." He told her.

She nodded eagerly and went to work immediately. Yamada smiled a fond smile at her before he started his own training.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The next morning they were early up and trained a couple of hours before they headed out again. It was another cloud free day in Hi no Kuni as they started their walk towards the border.

As they walked towards the edge of the town, Yamada spotted from his side vision a blur of black and red. At the same time he sensed a spike of chakra nearby.

He stopped and looked in the direction it came from, but there was nothing there. He stared at it for a long while with an intense stare behind his hood.

"Yamada, something wrong?" Naruto asked when he noticed the other teen had stopped moving. "No… it's nothing." Yamada answered before he began walking again.

Naruto looked at him strangely for a moment, but shrugged it off and continued his talk with Misaki. As the three disappeared through the village two cloaked individuals came around the corner of a building.

"That cloaked one almost saw us. He will make a fine offer to Jashin-sama." The one on the right said. "Maybe he will even be more of a challenge than that bearded guy." He continued on his ramble.

The other one however just narrowed his eyes at the back of the black dressed kiri shinobi.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Two weeks earlier_

"You will be going to Hi no Kuni. The Gobi Jinchuuriki has been spotted there and from what we've learned she travels together with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." The orange haired man with rippled eyes said, before them laid the body of the now dead Nibi container.

"I though the kyuubi was Kisame's job." The one with silver hair said. "Since Itachi left us Kisame has been assigned another mission." The orange haired man said.

"Why did that idiot leave in the first place?" The same silver haired man asked. "We don't know for sure, but what we do know is that it had something to do with his little brother." The orange haired man answered.

A short silence dominated the cave like base. "As long as I get to offer someone to Jashin-sama I'll not complain." The silver haired one said breaking the silence.

"Just be careful or you might get yourself killed." The one standing next to him said, finally speaking up. "Shut up Kakuzu!" The silver haired man said. He turned only to see his partner had already left.

With a number of well-chosen curses mumbled under his breath, the silver haired man left to catch up with his partner.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_One week later_

"There has been sighted unknown shinobi crossing the border into Hi no Kuni." Tsunade explained. "I am sending team 10 to investigate along with Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo. Try resolving it peacefully, but do not hesitate to use force should the need arise." She said as she handed a scroll to the leader.

"If I may ask Hokage-sama, why are you sending almost two full squads?" Sarutobi Asuma asked curiously.

"The border guards said the two chakra signatures they sensed where that of S-ranked shinobi. For all we know it might even be the akatsuki." She said earning widened eyes from the three in the room. "But why would they come here? Naruto left the village three years ago." Yamanaka Ino said.

"But the question is; do they know that?" Shikamaru countered. Ino was about to respond, but adapted a thoughtful look on her face. "But why are you sending five chunin and only one jonin?" The Nara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We are short on shinobi and you guys are basically the only ones that are not doing missions." Tsunade explained. A short silence came over the room as team 10 processed the information.

"Well, if that's all then go." Tsunade said breaking the silence. Asuma nodded at her before the team scattered to prepare for the mission.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

_Present time_

'_I don't like this…'_ Yamada thought as he looked around suspiciously. Ever since they left the town he had felt that something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be anything good.

They had been traveling for just about an hour now and it was now that Yamada's suspicions were confirmed when a cloaked individual stepped out on the road, blocking their way.

This individual was a tan-skinned and tall man. He wore a white hood and a black mask, with his eyes being the only visible part of his face. His eyes had an unusual coloring; green irises, no pupils and red sclera. He was dressed in an Akatsuki cloak and the forehead protector of Takigakure with a scratch in the middle which symbolized that he was no longer loyal to it.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Naruto shouted while pointing an accusing finger at the intimidating man. Yamada heard Misaki sigh in frustration and had to smirk at that.

"It seems the akatsuki shows itself once again." Yamada said, answering the blonde's question. He really had no idea who this guy was though as he had never seen him in any modern bingo book.

"Genso Masutaa…" the man started speaking. "or Hayato Yamada…" Yamada's eyes widened at this point before they narrowed again.

'_How does this guy know my identical name?' _Yamada thought. "known for killing two hundred shinobi of the hidden mist… all by himself…"

_Flashback_

_Bodies… there were bodies everywhere… he was covered in blood from head to toe… the blood of his enemies coated his hands as he studied them._

_These people had killed his comrades… and as payback he had taken their lives. His face was neutral… like their deaths didn't bother him. His eyes emotionless… like a killing machine._

_He put away his katana and slowly walked out of the area towards the rebel base. In his mind one sentence played over and over like a broken record. In war… only victory mattered._

_Flashback end_

Yamada didn't show any sign of reaction at the man's words. In fact if anyone could see his eyes they would see them go blank of emotion for a small period.

"bounty one hundred million ryo." The man in front of him continued. "I am honored. A bounty hunter wants my bounty." Yamada said sarcastically.

"Well, you will have to go through me to get to my friend!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at himself. "Naruto, this is not the time to act though. If this guy is like any of the other akatsuki members we've fought then he's very strong. And don't forget he's after you as well." Yamada said in a low tone.

He then looked slightly to the side before he turned back to the man in front of him. "Is your friend going to hide for much longer or is he going to come out already?" Yamada asked speaking up.

An insane laughter came from the side of the road as another cloak wearing man stepped forward. The man had medium-length silver hair that was slicked back and distinctive purple eyes.

His akatsuki cloak was ripped almost in half, revealing his Yugakure hitai ate around his neck and Jashin amulet. On his back was something that looked like a scythe, but it was triple bladed.

"I was right! You are good! You will make an excellent offer to Jashin-sama." He said followed by an insane laughter. "Jashin huh? I've heard of that cult." Yamada said with a thinking pose. The man got a prideful look on his face as his grin widened.

"If I remember correctly it's an idiotic cult with crazy followers. Nearly extinct as well." Yamada said. He actually had no idea what this Jashin was, but he was just trying to rile up his enemy.

It seemed to work as the silver haired man's expression turned from happy and prideful to angry and hateful. "How dare you? Kakuzu lay off, this one is mine." He said and took a step forward.

"I don't think so Hidan, his bounty is big and I want it." Kakuzu said and Yamada resisted the temptation of groaning. _'Why does every akatsuki member have a problem with their partners?'_ He thought to himself

"This guy offended Jashin-sama! You will get your bounty when I have made him pay. Meanwhile you can take care of the Jinchuuriki!" Hidan shouted.

"That works with me. Just don't get yourself killed." Kakuzu said before he turned to the two Jinchuuriki. "Shut up Kakuzu!" Hidan shouted before he charged Yamada.

Yamada was quickly on the defensive and dodged the man's persistent and furious swinging. "Keep him occupied until I have dealt with this lunatic!" Yamada shouted to his two companions before he had to jump backwards into a tree.

He then jumped into another tree before he disappeared into a forest. "Quit dancing around like a ballerina and face your fate!" Hidan shouted as he jumped after Yamada and swung at him again.

Yamada landed on the ground inside the forest and turned to face Hidan. His eyes narrowed behind his hood as he studied Hidan.

"What's the fun in that?" Yamada taunted as he dodged yet another swing. He sounded like he was having fun, but in reality he was analyzing his opponent.

'_This guy fights carelessly. I could easily wound him if he continues to fight like this.' _He thought with a smirk as his hand reached for the sword on his back.

"Cutting me will get you nowhere." Hidan said with crazy looking grin. Yamada adapted a look of confusion under his hood, but quickly shook it off and charged.

He ducked under the scythe and made an easy vertical slash at the man's stomach. He stopped a few feet away and turned around, expecting the silver haired man to be clutching his stomach in pain.

But Hidan just stood there looking as furious and crazy as ever. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that blood was leaking from his wound.

"Doesn't that hurt you at all?" Yamada asked with a hint of confusion. "Of course it fucking hurts, but like I said it won't do you anything good." Hidan answered.

"What you're immortal or something?" Yamada asked in a joking manner. "No shit." Hidan said with a smirk.

Yamada didn't have time to reply as Hidan threw the scythe at him with great speed. Yamada flipped away just as the scythe imbedded itself in the ground where he was just standing.

Hidan then pulled hard on the rope that was connected to the handle of the scythe and it flew back to him. "Now, prepare to be my offer to Jashin-sama!" He shouted as he threw the scythe again.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Misaki shouted before she fired the large fireball at Kakuzu. The missing-nin easily dodged it with amazing speed and charged forward.

"How do we stop this guy?" She shouted in frustration. Naruto charged forward as well with a kunai in one hand meeting Kakuzu on the middle. In the other hand he had charged up the normal Rasengan with the help of a clone.

The sound of metal meeting metal was heard as the two kunai collided with each other. Naruto quickly thrust the jutsu forward. Kakuzu however just jumped back and dodged it.

The jutsu dispersed and the two clashed again.

"I don't know, but we need to come up with something quickly!" Naruto shouted as he pushed of the bigger man with all his strength. Kakuzu disappeared in a burst of speed the moment the two kunai lost contact.

He reappeared besides Misaki who was just about to cast another fire jutsu and sent a devastating punch to her head. The red head was sent flying and landed with a heavy thud five meters away.

"Stay away from her you bastard!" Naruto shouted as he charged the taller man. Kakuzu looked at Naruto impassively before he disappeared once again and this time it was Naruto that was sent flying.

He landed fairly close to where Misaki was now standing while shaking slightly. "H-how do we beat this guy?" She asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Naruto quickly got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know, but don't worry. I'm not going to let my precious people die." He said reassuringly with a strained grin.

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Yamada was getting frustrated and he knew it very well. He was beginning to believe what this guy had said about being immortal was true.

He had cut of the man's left hand and he hadn't even batted an eyelash. Getting into close range against him was dangerous as well because of that scythe.

If he tried to use Mokuton Hidan would just use the scythe to cut the wood into pieces. Indeed he was getting very frustrated.

The fight had taken them into the middle of a forest and Yamada was currently searching for his enemy. His sharingan had long since been activated to anticipate Hidan's moves better.

He carefully looked around to see if he saw any sign of him at all. He listened closely and heard no form of movements in the grass or in the bushes.

With a heavy sigh he deactivated the sharingan and let his guard down for just a couple of seconds. That seemed to be a huge mistake as Hidan came running at him with his scythe high in the air.

His maniacal laughter could probably be heard miles away. He turned around while lifting his sword to block. He realized in that moment that it was way too late.

However, Hidan stopped just before the scythe made contact with Yamada, the sharp edge only millimeters away from Yamada's face. "What the hell? I can't move!" Hidan shouted in frustration and anger.

"Kagemane no Jutsu success!" Yamada heard someone say nearby. He recognized the voice. It was the voice of one of his former comrades.

He turned his head towards the voice. There stood Nara Shikamaru in all his lazy glory. He had changed somewhat over the years, that was for sure.

He had grown noticeably taller, although his hairstyle didn't seem to have changed though. His clothes were different as he now sported an attire more mirroring the standard Konohagakure's. The placement of his hitai ate was the same place as before, but only the metal part was visible, seemingly sewn onto the shirt itself.

"I would normally ask what a Kirigakure shinobi is doing inside Hi no Kuni borders, but I suppose we need all the help we can get." The shadow user said while he loosened up his neck.

"Not you again! I thought we scared you off when we killed your sensei!" Hidan shouted and Yamada's eyes widened. _'I see… so that's why they are here…'_ He thought sadly. He hadn't known the jonin at all, but he still felt bad for his once friend.

Yamada jumped away from Kakuzu's blade and made sure his sharingan was inactive before he turned to the Nara. "We?" He asked, playing clueless.

"Me and my team. The others should be helping your friends out just about now." Shikamaru answered. Yamada nodded and became thoughtful for a second.

"If you don't mind, I would like to fight this guy by myself. Like he said; he killed my sensei. I'm sure the others could use your help." Shikamaru said.

"You sure you don't need any help? This guy seems to be immortal and very dangerous." Yamada said as he placed away the sword. He was having problems believing his own words, but all the evidence pointed towards the conclusion.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Shikamaru said and Yamada nodded. The Nara's were known for their great intellect after all.

"Very well, if you really wish to fight him alone then I will leave you too it. I have weakened him somewhat though." Yamada said and Shikamaru nodded with an appreciative look.

With a burst of speed Yamada disappeared through the trees. _'Be careful old friend.'_

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

Naruto and Misaki were on their last legs at this point. This Kakuzu guy was immensely strong and had speed that they thought could probably rival Yamada's.

Both were heavily bruised and were breathing heavily. Naruto was just about to use the Fūton: Rasenshuriken as a last ditch effort, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not use the kage bunshin, Rasengan or the Rasenshuriken." Yamada said in a hushed tone. "Why not?" Naruto asked loudly.

"Because team 10 from Konoha is here." He said and the blonde's eyes widened in shock. As if on cue something big descended from the sky.

"Nikudan Hari Sensha!" Akimichi Choji shouted as his hair grew longer and encircled his body. He began spinning at a furious pace and hit Kakuzu from above.

The green eyed man had not expected Konoha shinobi or any reinforcements to show up at all and was caught by surprise.

Yamada sensed two other chakra signatures watching from a distance, but paid them no mind. He wanted to know if Choji's technique hit or not.

Choji himself jumped away from the crater he created and stood in front of Yamada watching the crater carefully. The Akimichi had changed a lot over the three years that had passed, just like his lazy teammate.

He now sported a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs. On the front of his chest armor was the kanji for food. His brown hair had grown much longer reaching to his waist.

He looked much more serious now as a shinobi then he did when they graduated from the academy.

The dust cloud that surrounded the crater was still there, but a silhouette of a person appeared. It was revealed to be Kakuzu as he stepped out of the cloud.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" Kakuzu asked with an undertone of amusement. He didn't even look like he was harmed at all.

"Let's end this!" He said as he lifted his hands. He was about to do handseals when there was suddenly heard a sparkling sound that Yamada thought was way too familiar.

Seconds later Kakuzu grunted in pain as Kakashi drove his Raikiri through his chest. "H-how the hell…? I couldn't even sense you, and you got me from behind?" Kakuzu said with shock evident in his voice.

"Too bad for you." Was all Kakashi said. While this happened Yamada was sweating bullets. _'Crap, this just got a lot more serious. If I or Naruto is discovered thing could get uglier than they already are.'_ He thought.

"I saw you use that earth skin technique before Choji hit you." Kakashi said bringing Yamada out of his thoughts. "The seals you used were earth-typed nature manipulation." The silver haired jonin said.

"It only took me a second. You managed to read my seals at that speed? And to use such a powerful lightning technique…" Kakuzu said stopping mid-sentence to think.

"Now I get it! You're Sharingan no Kakashi!" Kakuzu exclaimed. "Earth is weak against lightning. You got matched with the wrong guy." Kakashi said with narrowed eyes.

'_As powerful as always Kakashi-sensei." _Yamada thought with a small smile behind his hood. Kakuzu grunted loudly before he fell to his knees in what seemed like pain.

Kakashi retracted his arm as the technique died down. The rest of Kakuzu's body hit the ground seconds later as well.

"Well, that was interesting." Yamada said breaking the silence that settled over the shinobi in the area. He heard a sigh of relief and turned to his right to see Yamanaka Ino walk out from behind a tree.

Ino, like the other two, had also changed a lot through the years. Her formerly protruding bang had now flattened against her face and the bandages around her waist had been removed, revealing her stomach.

She also replaced the warmers on her elbows with fishnet ones and wore a pair of the same over her knees. She also wore a short, purple, sleeveless blouse and an open-front purple apron-skirt. She had stopped wearing her hitai ate as well.

"I'm glad that's over. Now let's go help Shikamaru." The patina blond said with a wave of her hand. "You two go ahead. I have some questions for these guys." Kakashi said as he pointed towards the three kiri shinobi.

Ino nodded before she and Choji took off towards the forest. The jonin's eye smile disappeared the moment they were out of sight and turned into a stone hard stare. "State your purpose for traveling in Hi no Kuni." Kakashi asked sternly.

Ignoring Kakashi for the moment, Yamada turned back to Kakuzu's fallen form as he calmly walked up to the body and placed a hand on it.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked. "Checking for any signs of life." Yamada informed the suspicious jonin.

"There is no point in it. Kakashi-san killed him." Misaki spoke up. "It doesn't hurt to be to careful now does it?" Yamada asked and none of them could argue with that.

The hole Kakashi had made in Kakuzu's chest was perfect. He was pierced right where the heart should be.

However Kakuzu's chakra had not settled down at all. Yamada's eyes widened slightly when he felt the missing-nin's chakra was still circulating in his body.

The chakra seemed to flow strangely as it centered around four weirdly located spots on his body. "He's not dead." Yamada said as he stepped backwards away from Kakuzu.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he too jumped away from the missing-nin. "That's impossible! I got his heart! He should be dead." Kakashi said in shock.

"Well, his chakra speaks differently." Yamada said in a low tone. In a burst of speed, Kakuzu was back at his feet again and sent a kick at Yamada's chest.

Yamada raised his arms and blocked it, but still skidded backwards because of the force behind it. There was a collective gasp from everyone present as they couldn't believe their eyes.

"You're fast, I'll give you that." Yamada grunted as he pushed Kakuzu's foot away. The missing-nin did a flip and landed a few feet away.

"It seems I underestimated you." He said as he began unzipping his cloak. "You don't need to strip to fight us you know." Yamada joked.

He only received an amused chuckle from Naruto before Kakuzu threw his cloak away. Yamada heard a gasp from Misaki and even he had to admit that it was not a pretty sight that greeted them.

Kakuzu's entire body was covered with various stitches and predominantly appeared to be sewn together. On his back were four masks, one of which was broken by Kakashi's hand, literally.

The places where the stiches held his body together suddenly began stretching. However, his insides were not meat and gore like everyone expected, but consisted of more stiches.

"Hatake-san are you sure it was a good idea to send your shinobi away?" Yamada asked with an undertone of amusement. "I am beginning to doubt my decision if that's what you mean." Kakashi answered warily.

The masks on Kakuzu's back started breaking loose from his body as Kakuzu let out small grunts of pain. The stiches on his body began breaking just as the masks broke loose and separated into four different beings.

'_I think I chose a bad time to use my Kekkei Genkai. I'll be more or less useless in this fight.'_ Yamada thought as he felt the familiar pain that erupted all over his body. He would barley be able to fight if he even had to.

"Uh, what's going on? And why didn't that guy die after being hit by that lightning technique?" Naruto asked the question on everyone's minds. Yamada was actually surprised the blonde hadn't blown their cover yet.

"I have honestly no idea." The silver haired jonin answered. The four… mask monsters had now formed bodies and stood behind Kakuzu looking very intimidating. "Now I will end this." The missing-nin said.

The one with the broken mask suddenly made some weird noises as it seemed to have trouble standing. "Get ready." Yamada said as he got into a battle-ready stance.

The monster suddenly collapsed onto the ground in front of Kakuzu and seemed to… melt. _'So they die if you destroy the mask… well that makes things easier.'_ Yamada thought with a smirk.

"I must admit I'm impressed you managed to destroy one of my hearts, but that's as many as you'll get." Kakuzu said as he made a handseal. A second later one of the monsters appeared in between them.

"Fūton: Astugai!" Kakuzu shouted and Yamada's eyes widened in realization a moment too late. A tornado-like mass was released from the mouth of the mask which blew them all of their feet.

Misaki was thrown into the ground while Kakashi, Yamada and Naruto were smashed into a tree each. The three males grunted in pain as their backs hit the wooden structures before they broke through it and hit another one.

The technique ended and Yamada got back to his feet with a groan. He didn't have much time as another one of the monsters appeared before him sparkling with lightning chakra.

"Raiton: gian!" Kakuzu said as lightning shot out of the mask's mouth in the shape of a spear. Yamada managed to barley move out of the way, but not completely as his left arm was pierced.

'_Crap! These things are fast.'_ He thought ignoring the pain in his arm. The one before him disappeared again in a burst of speed and reappeared somewhere else. Yamada's right hand got a green glow around it as he placed it against his damaged arm. The glow seemed to falter a little before it disappeared completely.

His eyes widened when he saw a mask monster headed towards Misaki who was lying unconsciously on the ground. _'I'm never going to get over there in time!'_ Yamada thought, but tried to reach her anyways.

"Raiton: Gian!" Kakuzu said once again and Yamada's eyes widened in horror. However, before the technique hit, Kakashi appeared in front of Misaki and seemed to absorb the technique into his hands.

A relieved look crossed Yamada's face before it was replaced with worry for his former sensei. Kakashi seemed to really be suffering from the power behind the technique.

When the technique ended Kakashi was breathing heavily, his leaf hitai ate was long since gone because of an earlier attack. He wobbled for a minute, but managed to stay on his feet.

Yamada sprinted the rest of the way over to them and checked on Misaki. When he was sure she was awake again he got back to his feet again and stood at Kakashi's side.

"Are you ok Hatake-san?" Yamada asked as his gaze went to the silver haired man. "I'll survive." Kakashi said between heavy breaths.

Naruto joined them moments later looking more or less unharmed. "You have a plan Hatake-san? Because I sure as hell don't." Yamada said as he looked at their opponent.

"No I don't. I was sure I crushed his heart with my technique. He should be dead. That was my plan." The silver haired jonin said, his expression thoughtful.

"But what I actually killed was one of the masked monsters that came out of his back. We should assume that it died in his place." The jonin continued.

"What I'm getting out of this is that we need to destroy the other masks." Yamada concluded. "Yeah because that will be a normal walk in the park." Misaki said sarcastically.

"Each of those monsters must have their own heart, along with his real one, and so they're all his." Kakashi continued his musings. "In other words, he has five hearts… or had." Yamada said.

"Very sharp. You're absolutely right. Each one contains a heart taken from a shinobi I've killed. I'll have to stock back up… and your hearts will be perfect!" Kakuzu said confirming their suspicion.

"I am surprised you survived my last attack. Not many does." Kakuzu spoke again. "But can you survive the next one?" He asked.

One of the monsters swayed a little before it opened its mouth. "Katon: Zukokku!" The missing-nin shouted and a huge firestorm erupted from the mask's mouth.

It was a huge technique, easily a B-rank if not an A-rank. _'Hundreds of hours of chakra control don't fail me now!'_ Yamada thought as he did his own technique.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" He shouted before he spewed out an enormous amount of water around them, forming a wall of water. The two techniques collided and channeled each other out.

'_That was harder than I anticipated it to be.' _Yamada thought as he collapsed to one knee. Since his bloodline limit had messed up his chakra circulation he was having a hard time doing such big jutsus.

"Genso Masutaa, I must admit that was an impressing technique." Kakuzu said. Kakashi glanced sideways at the panting kiri shinobi. _'So the Mizukage lied to us. He isn't just a rumor.'_ He thought.

"But the question is; can you keep it up?" Kakuzu continued with an undertone of amusement. "Suck on this would you." Yamada muttered before he did a handseal.

Hundreds of ice spears formed out of the moisture in the air shocking Kakashi. _'This guy has a Kekkei Genkai?'_ He thought in amazement.

His thoughts immediately traveled back to a certain young girl he and his team met in kiri. That was a time when team 7 still existed. Now all three members of the team had been declared missing-nin.

He shook his head quickly to rid himself of such thoughts and refocused on the match. The ice spears were sent flying at the monsters in front of them.

The ice spears stopped mid-air and fell to the ground as Yamada clutched his stomach in pain. _'I have to fight the pain.' _He thought as he pushed himself into a standing position.

While the missing-nin's monsters where distracted, Kakashi ran towards Kakuzu at full speed and engaged him in a taijutsu battle. However, the silver haired man seemed to be fairly outclassed in speed.

Kakuzu caught his punch and pushed it away before he returned it. He hit Kakashi in the jaw and made him flip back away. Before he even landed on the ground again the copy-nin received an elbow to the stomach which sent him skidding along the ground backwards.

Kakashi stopped skidding when his back was against a tree. He looked up only to see Kakuzu standing before him ready to kick his face in,

However, he never got the chance to as he was hit in the head by Yamada's foot throwing him off balance. Yamada, in a burst of speed, picked up Kakashi and jumped away.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Misaki shouted once Yamada was out of the way and launched the fireball at the missing-nin. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" Naruto shouted as he sent the powerful wind along with the fire technique, making it much more powerful.

Kakuzu of course used his speed to dodge the attack, but it gave them enough time to regroup. "You saved me… why?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"Just returning the favor. You saved my little sister after all." Yamada said and the jonin nodded in understanding. Their conversation was interrupted when one of the mask monsters shot a fireball at them.

All four jumped out of the way, but Kakashi and Yamada was soon after engaged by the one with lightning affinity who used the lightning spear at them.

Both managed to dodge again by jumping into separate trees. One masked monster with wings flew at Kakashi and shot an air bullet at him which he dodged.

The bullet went through the tree and out on the other side making a perfectly shaped hole. Yamada was brought out of his observation as Kakuzu appeared on his side and sent a devastating kick to his stomach.

Yamada was kicked into the tree breaking it in two before he fell to the ground. _'I've got to deactivate the gravity seals. It's my only hope at this point.' _He thought as the seals appeared on his body.

The seal deactivated and Yamada sprung to his feet just as Kakuzu made crater in the ground with his foot. The missing-nin then had to block Yamada's punch that came out of nowhere.

He was stuck on the defensive for a very long time only blocking or dodging Yamada's punches and kicks. "I must admit, you're the first one ever to actually be able to keep up with me." Yamada said as he stopped for a brief minute to catch his breath.

Kakuzu was also breathing heavily at this point. Making the mask monsters attack at the same time as he was fighting himself probably took a lot out of him.

The flying mask monster came at Yamada and fired a wind bullet at him. He jumped back into the air, but had forgotten about Kakuzu as he appeared behind him with a devastating kick to the head.

Yamada landed in a heap on the ground. _'We haven't taken out a single one of these mask monsters… if this continues… we won't come out of this alive.'_ He thought as he got back to his feet.

His legs were shaking and his breathing was heavy. His eyes glided to were Kakuzu was standing, holding Misaki up in a stranglehold. He turned another way and saw Kakashi being hit by the wind bullet for so to be hit by a volley of small fireballs.

Naruto was being chased by the lightning monster and was only centimeters from being caught. He saw Kakashi falling down from the tree he was in, but when he hit the ground he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Kage bunshin… then where is…" Yamada didn't get to finish as Kakashi appeared behind another tree and charged at Kakuzu. Naruto had also altered his course and was running in the same direction.

The flying monster noticed them and flew towards them, firing an air bullet at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, look out!" Naruto shouted before he pushed the jonin out of the way and was hit in his place. The blond was blasted into the ground with full force.

Somehow his hood came off under the attack shocking Kakashi. _'Is that Naruto?' _He thought, but he had no time to look closer as he refocused on his attack.

He opened a scroll and threw it on the ground before doing a handseal. He then stomped on it making water come out. It flooded up to Kakuzu just as one of the mask monsters shot lightning at Kakashi.

The silver haired jonin jumped out of the way and the lightning hit the water, electrocuting Kakuzu. He then threw a kunai with an explosive tag at the missing-nin.

Kakuzu threw Misaki off to the side and made a wall of the water at his feet. The kunai hit the water and exploded leaving a small mist. This gave Kakashi the cover he needed to retrieve Misaki who was now unconscious again.

Yamada jumped and appeared at Kakashi's side and patted him on the shoulder. "Good work Hatake-san." He said. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't say anything.

"What's out next move?" Yamada asked ignoring the angry look he got from Kakashi. The jonin remained silent as he was thinking of what to do next.

"We are going to have a small chat when this is over." Kakashi said finally breaking the silence. With a sigh his anger died down and he turned to Yamada. "But that can wait. I've got a plan."

XxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

**AN:** I think that's the first time a battle has stretched over more than one chapter… or not… I'm not sure. Anyways hope you enjoyed it!

Now I have a question for you guys. Do any of you know where the land of iron is located? I have searched through the Naruto wiki and it doesn't tell you where it's located. If you know where it is then please inform me!

Don't forget to R&R!

Until next time!


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